Torrington restricting tattoo parlors because of their image

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Torrington restricting tattoo parlors because of their image
June 05, 2010
By MIKE AGOGLIATI
The Register Citizen

TORRINGTON – A recent decision by the Planning and Zoning Commission will prohibit tattoo parlors, check cashing facilities and pawn shops from downtown Torrington.

The commission recently asked city planner Martin Connor to write a regulation banning these facilities from the downtown because they are perceived to “project a negative image to the Downtown.”

In Connor’s memo dated May 25, 2010, Connor writes, “Check cashing facilities and tattoo/body piercing studios are perceived to project a negative image to the downtown and may attract activity that may detract from neighboring businesses or the Downtown as a whole.”

Brazen Betties owner Julia Sloan said there are pros and cons of prohibiting tattoo parlors and check cashing facilities in downtown Torrington.

“It all depends on how the business owner runs the business,” Sloan said. “Tattoo is an art form, and most people who get them are musicians or artists.”

“I understand that the city is trying to revitalize the downtown and establish a historical setting, but it really comes down to how you run your business,” Sloan said. “

Tattoo as an art form has evolved greatly in Connecticut, and one of the first five studios is here in Torrington. Body Art Inc. was opened in 1979 by Greg Rasmussen, who has continued to tattoo at his 76 Water Street location for 30 years.

“I can understand their decision, but I really don’t think it was aimed at me,” Rasmussen said. I have been in business here for 30 years and have brought a lot of business into the town.”

Rasmussen said that when tattooing became legal in the state in 1979, parlors were required to partner with a doctor and now are inspected on a yearly basis.

“If they are thinking that tattoo parlors are like they were before 1979, they are wrong,” Rasmussen said. “Everything is much cleaner and shops are inspected and required to provide the physician with a reports.”

Rasmussen said he has tattooed, “everyone from police officers to athletes to doctors,” believes the Planning and Zoning Commission has made a mistake with the new regulations.

“I think it is an uninformed decision,” Rasmussen said. “I don’t think they should discriminate against certain businesses they way they appear to be here.”

In fact, Connecticut is not alone in its regualtion of tattoos. Only two states — New Mexico and North Dakota — regulate tattoos for humans. Washington D.C. also has no tattoo restrictions on the books.

Connor said that tattoo parlors are not totally banned from the city, and did acknowledge that they have a place in Torrington.

“The regulation allows for tattoo parlors to open in the local business zone,” Connor said. “They would have to get a special exception, but they can open in Torrington.”

Business owner Jerry Libby, who owns Libby’s Torrington Furniture, said that such a regulation, that would prohibit tattoo parlors along with check-cashing facilities and pawn shops, would help to move the downtown forward in a better direction.

“People perceive those types of places as negative to the downtown,” Libby said. “We need to limit or restrict the growth of those businesses downtown.”

Torrington resident Mimi Sykhounmeuang, who has a tattoo, said that tattoo parlors don’t portray a “declining downtown” or give off a negative view of a city.

“You are always going to have people who don’t like tattoos,” Sykhounmeuang said. “But the parlors themselves are clean and I don’t think they are that bad.”