Tattoo studio goes before BZA on Tuesday with new location

It will be try, try again for both the Greencastle Board of Zoning Appeals and a proposed local tattoo studio Tuesday evening.

After being postponed by the extreme snow and cold last Tuesday, the BZA will try again to meet this Tuesday with a 6 p.m. public session at City Hall.

The lone item on the agenda is a special exception use variance request to allow a tattoo studio in the old Barrier Windows building at 1139 S. Jackson St., a General Business 1 (GB1) zoning district.

Petitioners John R. and Karen D. Helmers of Greencastle will be the property owners with the business, Castle City Tattoo, operated by their daughter, Rachel Walker.

In withdrawing her petition in November in a similar request for a space at 813 E. Franklin St., Walker told the Banner Graphic that the move did not mean her business idea was dead.

"I do hope to get another building," she said. "I'm actively looking for other buildings."

That has apparently come to fruition now at 1139 S. Jackson St., once also the office of Mark McKee's old Greenkeeper lawn care business. The building sits at the northeast corner of South Jackson Street and Sunset Drive.

City Planner Shannon Norman's report notes that there are residences to the north and east of the property but that the site "has been an established commercial property for many years with outside storage and frequent service traffic."

Walker, a 2004 Greencastle High School graduate who ran a licensed tattoo business in Louisville (Indiana requires no such licensing), had gone before the BZA in October, seeking approval for a special exception use variance at the Franklin Street location. That request ended up being tabled after notification issues arose and was then later withdrawn.

A tattoo studio, along with several other commercial activities or even entities like schools and churches, is considered an allowable use of business-zoned property within the city. However, such proposals are reviewed on a case-by-case (i.e., special exception) basis to determine if they are a proper fit relative to such issues as business hours, traffic and on-site lighting.

Donnie Watson chairs the Greencastle BZA with John Phillips, Wayne Lewis and Scott Davis as members.