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FOLLOW-UP
Bigfoot politicos oppose Southie tattoo parlor

BY LOREN KING

South Boston won’t be getting a tattoo parlor anytime soon. On Tuesday, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) denied a request for a conditional-use permit from Barbara McNeil, a long-time Southie resident, mother of two, and owner for three years of a small CD and clothing shop called the Shed. McNeil wanted to rent to two body-art practitioners who would have offered their services (by appointment only) in the rear of her store.

Although the Shed, at 105 Dorchester Street, is in a commercial district, with a florist, pizza restaurant, and liquor store nearby, McNeil needed a special permit from the ZBA because tattoo parlors in Boston are restricted to industrial zones (see " Beating the Tattoo, " News and Features, August 16). This controversial restriction was the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s way to give neighborhoods the power to reject tattoo parlors in their communities. Still, McNeil was hopeful about her chances because the ZBA has granted conditional-use permits to two body-art establishments — Fat Ram’s Pumpkin Tattoo, in the Hyde Square section of Jamaica Plain, and the Dark Wave, in the Dudley Square section of Roxbury — since February 1, 2001, when tattooing again became legal in Massachusetts after a 38-year prohibition. But those two applications went before the ZBA without any of the local opposition that accompanied McNeil’s request.

McNeil had held two well-attended public meetings this past summer to inform her neighbors about her plans for the Shed. Although a small group of supporters, including a grandmother who has lived in Southie for 50 years, spoke in favor of McNeil’s permit application, McNeil was overmatched by South Boston politicians who made it clear they did not want tattooing at the Shed. " It’s not the type of business we want our children exposed to, " said City Councilor James Kelly. " We don’t want tattoos in the same store where youngsters go and buy their Britney Spears music. It sends the wrong message. " Kelly said approval of McNeil’s permit would lead to more tattoo shops, a prospect that would " let the whole town go to hell in a handbasket. "

State Representative Jack Hart fretted that this commercial district should be " a family-oriented place, " and he joined Kelly in the concern that granting McNeil’s permit would lead to a proliferation of tattoo parlors in Southie. Other opposition came from people representing the offices of newly elected congressman Stephen Lynch and City Councilor Mickey Roache.

After the permit was denied, McNeil said she was not surprised by the ZBA’s decision, and that her fight wasn’t finished. She said she will consider whether to open a tattoo parlor in a permitted industrial area. She’s also weighing a challenge to the city’s ban on tattoo parlors in commercial zones. McNeil was represented at the hearing by Tom Lesser, a Northampton lawyer who specializes in First Amendment zoning issues. Lesser told the Phoenix in July that he believes a lawsuit eventually will be filed against a Massachusetts city or town for using zoning to keep tattooing out of commercial districts. " It’s an unconstitutional ordinance, " Lesser said after Tuesday’s ZBA hearing. " It gives the zoning board absolute discretion to do what they want. "

Issue Date: November 1 - 8, 2001