The Arlington Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit Jan. 21 to allow two tattoo or piercing studios inside the Phenix Salon Suites at 536 W. Randol Mill Road, just east of North Cooper Street.
The commission voted 8-1 to approve the request, with Commissioner Derek Carter voting no, citing possible negative effects of having tattoo services on existing tenants and on the area as a whole.
“I’m not for the project. I think it’s out of place. I think you’re going to upset your good tenants there that are doing the properly licensed things,” Carter said. “This special use permit is going to be a wrench in it, I think.”
Salon owner Kedar Nigudkar told commissioners that his business, which has been open for two years, will operate in a professional, monitored way.
“I keep a close watch, and it is in my interest to make sure all the existing tenants are happy, and any new tenant that moves in does not change that dynamic,” Nigudkar said.
Phenix Salon Suites encompasses 9,551 square feet of the 9.4-acre Town North Shopping Center lot. The business contains 55 individual lease spaces used for nail, hair, barber and esthetic services, and Nigudkar proposed converting up to two of the existing spaces (a maximum of 330 square feet) for tattoo or piercing services on an appointment-only basis.
Nigudkar is a franchisee of Las Vegas, Nevada-based Phenix Salon Suites, which has more than 415 locations in 33 states and two countries.
The site is part of Town North Shopping Center which was built in 1959 and opened with tenants in 1961 as a retail hub for the newly developed Town North neighborhood and Arlington Memorial Hospital, which opened in 1958. It is a mile west of AT&T Stadium.
Nigudkar said that the salon is capable of handling the proposed services. Every studio already has a sink with hot/cold water and no structural work or exterior/site changes are proposed. He said the tattoo studios will operate in full compliance with Texas DSHS tattoo studio standards.
Carter and others on the commission asked about the potentially hazardous trash a tattoo suite would generate.
Carter asked: “How will you handle the trash and the garbage of the needles that will be mixed in with the hair clippings and all that will there be? Are you going to provide provisions for the trash that the tattoo artists are going to have? Surely they won’t be able to have enough room in their suite to stack them up for a week for garbage. What will happen with all their hazardous trash that has blood on it?”
Carter said he believed the tattoo suites would be a negative addition.
“I’ve seen enough tattoo parlors, and I think they really will change your element and environment over there,” he said. “I think the salon studios are a great idea, but I think it’s really going to change up your element over there.”
Commissioner Jacob Sumpter said he thought the salon will have a positive impact on the area.
“This is a redeveloped shopping center, so it was a different type of center to experience back in the day, and it’s been reinvigorated with different types of uses, such as yourself,” Sumpter told Nigudkar. “I think this is a great example of redevelopment in our city, and we’re going to see a lot more of this as developers take the initiative to redevelop our old retail centers, which, that’s what we want.”
Sumpter said the success of centers such as Town North is important.
“These types of uses, I think, are very important to make it successful for its second version of what it should be,” he said. “I don’t like tattoos, but that’s just my personal opinion. There are others that love them. And there’s nothing wrong with tattoos.”
Sumpter added: “I think having two studios is perfectly adequate for something like this. Appointment only is important. I’m supportive of this, and I think it’s a great use, and it works in this kind of realm of a studio, a place where people get their hair done, makeup, all kinds of stuff. I just want to point out that I’m very supportive.”
The case will go before the Arlington City Council on Feb. 24.
Lance Murray is a freelance contributor covering business for the Arlington Report.
At the Arlington Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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