Schaumburg allows requests for tattoo businesses
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday approved tattoo businesses as special uses in many commercial areas, and the first application for such an establishment could be filed soon.
Since the village's planning, building & development committee first recommended such businesses be allowed with special-use permits in April, two of the original restrictions have been dropped.
The first was a requirement for a 1,000-foot buffer zone from churches and schools, which was abandoned by the recommendation of the zoning board of appeals.
The original recommendation also would have confined tattoo businesses to manufacturing districts. But the change approved Tuesday would permit them in most retail areas as well, except the three major shopping centers of Woodfield Mall, Streets of Woodfield and Woodfield Village Green.
As special uses, however, tattoo businesses must still seek individual permission from the village and can't simply lease or buy space in these areas to operate.
When potential business owners expressed interest in opening a tattoo shop in Schaumburg earlier this year, it was found such businesses were not on the list of permitted uses.
And when those entrepreneurs argued that any de facto ban violated the First Amendment, Schaumburg Village Attorney Lance Malina concluded it would be difficult to disagree. He said the parties provided ample case law showing the courts have supported tattooing as a constitutionally protected activity.
Schaumburg Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said the village still hasn't received a formal application for a tattoo business, but she recognized the people who'd first expressed interest in the audience at Tuesday's village board meeting.
They also previously argued against being confined to manufacturing districts because they wanted the greater foot traffic of a retail area, Fitzgerald said.