Tattoo Artist Hopes To Become Part Of Downtown
July 25, 2019 at 11:01 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Now the 35-year-old artist has hit a bit of a snag with city zoning ordinances because his work includes tattoos.
Downtown Warsaw is zoned Commercial-4 and tattoo parlors are not permitted in a C-4 district. City ordinances allow tattoo parlors only in C-3, C-5 and Industrial-2 and I-3 zoning districts or with a special exception in a C-2.
Underneath applied for a variance before the Board of Zoning Appeals, but his petition was tabled from the July meeting to August due to an advertising error.
City Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins, who also owns a downtown business and who met with Underneath, wrote a letter to the BZA with concerns about the tattoo parlor being at 112 E. Center St. in the C-4 district. She’s concerned that approving Underneath’s variance would open a “Pandora’s Box” of tattoo parlors in C-4 districts.
“It would seem that once an exception has been made, it would be hard to deny future requests,” she wrote.
She states that tattoo parlors must be located a minimum of 400 feet from a church, and Underneath’s business downtown would not be. Tattoo parlors are prohibited where there is residential usage in a commercially zoned area, and there are several apartments within 400 feet of Underneath’s business.
In city senior planner Justin Taylor’s comments to the BZA, he wrote, “The argument regarding negative effects of tattoo parlors is predicated on the idea that this type of use has a detrimental impact on adjacent property values. This idea has not been documented in any substantiated way. As tattoos have become more mainstream, tattoo parlors have also become more commonplace. A tattoo parlor in an urban center will have no more of a negative impact than a retail store or a restaurant.”
On Thursday, Taylor said a variance is for a specific property in a specific matter. It doesn’t mean that all tattoo parlors would be approved in C-4 districts, that would take a change in city ordinances.
The BZA may approve a variance if members determine that “will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community.”
An email sent out Thursday afternoon from Trisha Steger, Main Street coordinator, Warsaw Community Development Corp., to C-4 district building and business stakeholders stated the BZA will “review a request for variance from a tattoo company that recently opened for business at 112 E. Center St. C4 District Building and Business Stakeholders in support or opposition of the variance may send a letter to: City Planning & Zoning Department, 102 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, IN?46580.”
It also stated that stakeholders in support or opposition of the variance are “also urged to attend the next Board of Zoning Appeals meeting at City Hall Council Chambers” at 7 p.m. Aug. 26.
In an interview earlier this week, Underneath said he’s a sponsored artist with clients in 38 states.
“I scouted about 47 locations, but I chose downtown because no tattooer has ever been allowed in a C-4 district, or downtown in general. And I’m a big advocate for community development, inclusion and edification. So I noticed that there’s a lot of vacant buildings around here. There’s a lot of small businesses that get pushed out. The only things that are striving down here are the boutiques, the restaurants and the law firms,” he said.
“In my opinion, whether it be personal finance, business, local government, diversity is the cornerstone for long-term sustainability. And if we don’t revisit some of these dated ordinances and allow for new, younger, progressive small businesses to move in, we’re suffocating the growth of the community.”
He had a petition of 95 signatures from people and businesses in the C-4 district who support his business as of Wednesday.
Underneath grew up in Goshen, moving to Warsaw about 15 years ago. He was an engineering consultant with medical device companies. He moved away, keeping a house in Warsaw to maintain his tattoo clients on weekends, while also having a home in Bloomington – with a private studio – and working for Boston Scientific. Two years ago, he hung that up and became a full-time artist.
“I felt like what I was doing artistically – financially it wasn’t the best decision – but I felt like I was making a bigger impact on people’s lives with my artwork and tattooing than I ever did as an engineer. So really moving downtown was a way to show that what I’m offering can be good for the community. So I feel like to do that I have to be amongst the community,” he said.
He said he wants to be here and offer the public a place where hip-hop music isn’t blaring and raunchy and juvenile guys who don’t take the industry seriously aren’t providing the tattoos.
“I’m part of a more elite group of artists where we are actual artists first. Tattooing happens to be one of our mediums,” Underneath said.
His other art includes acrylic, oil, Prisma and watercolor paintings. He refurbishes his own furniture and does photography.
Underneath wants to be a part of the community.
The name of his business – Moving Pictures Tattoo Cinema – pays homage to the former movie theatre that was downtown at the corner of Buffalo and Main streets before Zimmer Biomet converted it to a hotel.
He does face painting and Sharpie tattoos on kids during First Fridays. He recently was asked by One Warsaw to do free facepainting at its Sept. 14 event on the courthouse lawn.
Underneath’s business is in a building owned by the Klondaris family, including City Councilman Mike Klondaris. Before moving in, he said he pitched the idea for his business to them to see if it was even a viable option. After his pitch, they thought it was a great idea. Mike Klondaris said he told Underneath to check with the city planning department.
Klondaris said tattoo businesses are legitimate businesses these days.
“There are tattoo studios everywhere. Forty percent of the people in this country have tattoos. Some you see, some you don’t see. This isn’t your grandpa’s dark alley tattoo parlor with drunken sailors walking around. This is a legitimate studio with a legitimate artist. The storefront looks nice. He’s going to be contributing to the downtown. I think he’ll get involved with activities ... I think he’s going to be very involved. He wants to be involved,” Klondaris said.
Underneath never had his own brick-and-mortar place so he met with a variety of community leaders about his business, including representatives of the Chamber of Commerce. They were impressed with his business, but suggested he check with the city planning department.
Underneath checked with Taylor and got the sign permits. While talking to a variety of officials, he said no one told him about the zoning ordinance for tattoo parlors. On Thursday, Taylor said when he talked to Underneath about the signs, the nature of the business never came up. A tattoo sign on the business storefront was later brought to Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt’s attention who told Underneath he needed a variance.
Underneath said he has a retail license, so he was told his art studio, photography and classes were permitted, but not a tattoo parlor in a C-4.
“I said that’s great because I don’t want tattoo parlors around here. They tend to lack professionalism and they lack a certain standard and quality that I insist for my clients,” Underneath said. “By pushing things to the outskirts of town, where there are no standards, there’s no zoning rules, literally anybody can buy equipment online, sign a lease and call themselves a professional tattooer. So to me, there’s a huge separation between tattooers and tattoo artists.”
Underneath said it’s not about the money for him, which is why he maintains a higher minimum rate than the other tattoo shops in the area. He said he doesn’t want to service spontaneity.
“I do more of a doctor-patient type of consultation. I interview the person and make sure I’m the right person for the project. They have to pay a deposit, and their appointment is normally booked a month in advance,” he said, adding that it gives him time to research the project while keeping the spontaneity away.
Underneath sees only about a client a day, maybe 15-25 a month. With little daily business, his business won’t take up much downtown parking.
He is known nationally for his impossible tattoo coverups, he said. The biggest part of his business is restorations and “making sure people know there are other options for their tattoos.”
For more information about Underneath or his business at 112 E. Center St., Warsaw, visit nathanunderneath.com or call 574-370-7030.
Now the 35-year-old artist has hit a bit of a snag with city zoning ordinances because his work includes tattoos.
Downtown Warsaw is zoned Commercial-4 and tattoo parlors are not permitted in a C-4 district. City ordinances allow tattoo parlors only in C-3, C-5 and Industrial-2 and I-3 zoning districts or with a special exception in a C-2.
Underneath applied for a variance before the Board of Zoning Appeals, but his petition was tabled from the July meeting to August due to an advertising error.
City Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins, who also owns a downtown business and who met with Underneath, wrote a letter to the BZA with concerns about the tattoo parlor being at 112 E. Center St. in the C-4 district. She’s concerned that approving Underneath’s variance would open a “Pandora’s Box” of tattoo parlors in C-4 districts.
“It would seem that once an exception has been made, it would be hard to deny future requests,” she wrote.
She states that tattoo parlors must be located a minimum of 400 feet from a church, and Underneath’s business downtown would not be. Tattoo parlors are prohibited where there is residential usage in a commercially zoned area, and there are several apartments within 400 feet of Underneath’s business.
In city senior planner Justin Taylor’s comments to the BZA, he wrote, “The argument regarding negative effects of tattoo parlors is predicated on the idea that this type of use has a detrimental impact on adjacent property values. This idea has not been documented in any substantiated way. As tattoos have become more mainstream, tattoo parlors have also become more commonplace. A tattoo parlor in an urban center will have no more of a negative impact than a retail store or a restaurant.”
On Thursday, Taylor said a variance is for a specific property in a specific matter. It doesn’t mean that all tattoo parlors would be approved in C-4 districts, that would take a change in city ordinances.
The BZA may approve a variance if members determine that “will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community.”
An email sent out Thursday afternoon from Trisha Steger, Main Street coordinator, Warsaw Community Development Corp., to C-4 district building and business stakeholders stated the BZA will “review a request for variance from a tattoo company that recently opened for business at 112 E. Center St. C4 District Building and Business Stakeholders in support or opposition of the variance may send a letter to: City Planning & Zoning Department, 102 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw, IN?46580.”
It also stated that stakeholders in support or opposition of the variance are “also urged to attend the next Board of Zoning Appeals meeting at City Hall Council Chambers” at 7 p.m. Aug. 26.
In an interview earlier this week, Underneath said he’s a sponsored artist with clients in 38 states.
“I scouted about 47 locations, but I chose downtown because no tattooer has ever been allowed in a C-4 district, or downtown in general. And I’m a big advocate for community development, inclusion and edification. So I noticed that there’s a lot of vacant buildings around here. There’s a lot of small businesses that get pushed out. The only things that are striving down here are the boutiques, the restaurants and the law firms,” he said.
“In my opinion, whether it be personal finance, business, local government, diversity is the cornerstone for long-term sustainability. And if we don’t revisit some of these dated ordinances and allow for new, younger, progressive small businesses to move in, we’re suffocating the growth of the community.”
He had a petition of 95 signatures from people and businesses in the C-4 district who support his business as of Wednesday.
Underneath grew up in Goshen, moving to Warsaw about 15 years ago. He was an engineering consultant with medical device companies. He moved away, keeping a house in Warsaw to maintain his tattoo clients on weekends, while also having a home in Bloomington – with a private studio – and working for Boston Scientific. Two years ago, he hung that up and became a full-time artist.
“I felt like what I was doing artistically – financially it wasn’t the best decision – but I felt like I was making a bigger impact on people’s lives with my artwork and tattooing than I ever did as an engineer. So really moving downtown was a way to show that what I’m offering can be good for the community. So I feel like to do that I have to be amongst the community,” he said.
He said he wants to be here and offer the public a place where hip-hop music isn’t blaring and raunchy and juvenile guys who don’t take the industry seriously aren’t providing the tattoos.
“I’m part of a more elite group of artists where we are actual artists first. Tattooing happens to be one of our mediums,” Underneath said.
His other art includes acrylic, oil, Prisma and watercolor paintings. He refurbishes his own furniture and does photography.
Underneath wants to be a part of the community.
The name of his business – Moving Pictures Tattoo Cinema – pays homage to the former movie theatre that was downtown at the corner of Buffalo and Main streets before Zimmer Biomet converted it to a hotel.
He does face painting and Sharpie tattoos on kids during First Fridays. He recently was asked by One Warsaw to do free facepainting at its Sept. 14 event on the courthouse lawn.
Underneath’s business is in a building owned by the Klondaris family, including City Councilman Mike Klondaris. Before moving in, he said he pitched the idea for his business to them to see if it was even a viable option. After his pitch, they thought it was a great idea. Mike Klondaris said he told Underneath to check with the city planning department.
Klondaris said tattoo businesses are legitimate businesses these days.
“There are tattoo studios everywhere. Forty percent of the people in this country have tattoos. Some you see, some you don’t see. This isn’t your grandpa’s dark alley tattoo parlor with drunken sailors walking around. This is a legitimate studio with a legitimate artist. The storefront looks nice. He’s going to be contributing to the downtown. I think he’ll get involved with activities ... I think he’s going to be very involved. He wants to be involved,” Klondaris said.
Underneath never had his own brick-and-mortar place so he met with a variety of community leaders about his business, including representatives of the Chamber of Commerce. They were impressed with his business, but suggested he check with the city planning department.
Underneath checked with Taylor and got the sign permits. While talking to a variety of officials, he said no one told him about the zoning ordinance for tattoo parlors. On Thursday, Taylor said when he talked to Underneath about the signs, the nature of the business never came up. A tattoo sign on the business storefront was later brought to Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt’s attention who told Underneath he needed a variance.
Underneath said he has a retail license, so he was told his art studio, photography and classes were permitted, but not a tattoo parlor in a C-4.
“I said that’s great because I don’t want tattoo parlors around here. They tend to lack professionalism and they lack a certain standard and quality that I insist for my clients,” Underneath said. “By pushing things to the outskirts of town, where there are no standards, there’s no zoning rules, literally anybody can buy equipment online, sign a lease and call themselves a professional tattooer. So to me, there’s a huge separation between tattooers and tattoo artists.”
Underneath said it’s not about the money for him, which is why he maintains a higher minimum rate than the other tattoo shops in the area. He said he doesn’t want to service spontaneity.
“I do more of a doctor-patient type of consultation. I interview the person and make sure I’m the right person for the project. They have to pay a deposit, and their appointment is normally booked a month in advance,” he said, adding that it gives him time to research the project while keeping the spontaneity away.
Underneath sees only about a client a day, maybe 15-25 a month. With little daily business, his business won’t take up much downtown parking.
He is known nationally for his impossible tattoo coverups, he said. The biggest part of his business is restorations and “making sure people know there are other options for their tattoos.”
For more information about Underneath or his business at 112 E. Center St., Warsaw, visit nathanunderneath.com or call 574-370-7030.
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