Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals Monday approved a special exception that will allow tattoo studios to be located in a commercially zoned district. The board approved the request from Enrique Hernandez to close Hank’s Tattoo at 3407 Lake City Highway and open the shop under a new name, “Stained Society,” at 2124 E. Winona Ave. The studio will be located in Lakeview Plaza between Conley Barber Shop and Paradise Pawn Shop. There is a residential district behind the Winona Avenue property within 400 feet of the requested use. Special exception guidelines state that a tattoo parlor is permitted in a commercial district if it is at least 400 feet from any church building, licensed day care, public park, school building, school playground or school parking lot, public library or residentially zoned district or residential usage within a commercially zoned district. Hernandez attended Monday’s meeting to request the special exception and said he previously did tattoo work at the East Winona Avenue location in 1998. Hernandez said the new shop will be open in a week and in addition to tattoos, will have an art studio and gallery where wall art and T-shirts with art will be sold. Hernandez presented letters in support of the shop. “The industry I’m in since I’ve started has really excelled in a lot of forms. We are doing fine art on the skin,” Hernandez said. Laura Wagner, Hernandez’s client, attended the meeting and said she supports the tattoo shop. “I was in my 30s before I got my first ink and I’ve seen over the years how back in the day it was Navy sailors and biker guys getting ink, but now it has become more main stream,” Wagner said. “This is more of an art people want to show on their body, not just have art hanging on the wall.” Rick Keeven, board member, said he has heard great things about the business. Also Monday, the board approved a use variance that will allow manufacturing at 3507 Commerce Drive where Goodwill previously was located. Joseph Fenoglio, Trigon International Corporation president, and his brother, Thomas Fenoglio, vice president, attended the meeting to request the variance. The Aurora, Ill., based company will open a satellite office at the Warsaw location. It is an orthopedic instrumentation business that makes medical devices for the orthopedic industry. “We are looking to come to town and put an orthopedic device design center in this new facility,” Joseph said. There will be six to eight employees at first, increasing to 20 to 25. Keeven asked Joseph Fenoglio what made them decide to come to Warsaw. “The best designers for orthopedic implants are in this town and it’s hard to pick them up and relocate them, and easier to open a facility here so there is less disruption for their families and homes,” Joseph said.
