One bill under consideration by Charleston Council would allow for increased scrutiny of downtown businesses with chronic public intoxiation problems. Another would loosen the zoning for tattoo parlors downtown.
Members of the Charleston City Council Planning Committee voted in favor of both bills Monday evening. The bills would need to go to the full council for final approval.
The committee first voted in support of a bill that would require future shops in the central business district that sell alcohol for off-premises consumption to apply for conditional-use permits.
The bill doesn't seek to deter businesses such as convenience stores and bars from coming to the downtown area, but would create a process so that the Board of Zoning Appeals can address issues relating to public intoxication near some establishments on a complaint-driven basis.
"Places like a Go-Mart or grocery store that has beer and wine, it allows us to look at them on a case-by-case basis," Planning Director Dan Vriendt said.
The central business district is bordered by the Kanawha and Elk rivers, Washington Street West, Leon Sullivan Way and on toward Smith Street.
Committee chairwoman Mary Jean Davis placed a 40-ounce bottle of Miller High Life on a table as she discussed off-premises alcohol consumption downtown. "We need a process through which we can protect the downtown area, not something that's a deterrent [for businesses]," she said.
The change does not affect existing businesses that sell alcohol for people to drink off-site; those would be grandfathered in.
The planning committee also voted Tuesday in favor of a bill that would amend the zoning ordinance to allow tattoo shops in downtown Charleston. Nick Quinn, who owns Black Eagle Tattoo in Kanawha City, wants to open a tattoo studio in downtown Charleston and recently circulated an online petition to amend the existing ordinance that prohibits them in the downtown area.
Council member Mary Beth Hoover said she was impressed by the cleanliness of Black Eagle Tattoo and supported Quinn's effort to open a shop downtown.
"After seeing his tattoo facility, I think it's something that would be perfect for downtown," she said. "Across the city, we're promoting artists; this is just a different type of art."
But council member Andy Richardson was concerned about the perceived risks associated with allowing tattoo shops in the central business district as a conditional-use permit.
He cited a list released by the U.S. Department of Justice that includes tattoo parlors and strip clubs as businesses with heavy cash traffic that are frequently used by gangs to launder drug money.
"This guy's not going to be doing that, but we've got a strip club downtown that we can't do anything about right now," Richardson said, referencing Elite Gentlemen's Club on Capitol Street. He initially sought to propose additional restrictions on the bill that would regulate the proximity of tattoo shops to strip clubs, as well as restrict the hours of operation for tattoo shops.
Ultimately, Richardson withdrew those proposals. The committee did vote to amend the bill so that multiple tattoo shops wouldn't be allowed within 1,500 feet of each other. The bill had previously restricted that buffer to 1,000 feet.
City Council member Keeley Steele, who attended the meeting but does not sit on the committee, spoke during its discussion.
"I would implore this committee to tread really carefully on people who are trying to open businesses in this town," she said. "We've got to have the diverse economy, we've got to have people willing to try to break down the barriers and maybe some preconceived notions about businesses."
Both bills will now go before City Council for a final vote.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.