Body art lovers go the distance for ink

By Josh Spooner
The Collegian

Besides the pain, the worst part of getting a tattoo in Fresno might be the distance one must drive not just to see someone’s favorite tattoo artist, but any tattoo artist.

Evan Young, a junior criminology major, often travels quite a distance for his tattoos. Living near the Fresno State campus, Young has to go to the Tower District to get work done.

“Driving 20 to 30 minutes is better than [driving] from home, which is about four hours away,” said Young, who moved to Fresno from Victorville, Calif., for school.

Fresno tattoo customers like Young have to travel such lengths to acquire their body art, in part, due to city regulations.

A little-known city zoning standard requires all Fresno tattoo shops to be located within a commercial district. This standard is part of an unspoken rule that has always existed among tattoo shop owners, of a city ordinance aimed at dictating shop locations.

Tattoo shops can open anywhere in town, but with a catch — the area must be zoned C-5 (general commercial) or C-6 (heavy commercial).

According to Meenakshi Singh, a city planner, anyone interested in opening a tattoo parlor can take the building address into the Fresno Planning and Development office and see if it is zoned as a C-5 or C-6. If it is, then the request just has to go through a site-plan review process.

The other route could be having a building re-zoned to fit the regulations.

Tattoo artist Bailey, who goes by only one name, said rezoning is not cheap. Bailey has nine years of experience as a tattoo artist and owns Trends Tattoo in the Tower District.

“The price to re-zone depends on the area the building is in, its surrounding neighbors and how much they fight against the shop opening there,” Bailey said.

Bailey has been inside his fair share of tattoo shops, and has dealt with both the cities of Fresno and Clovis on the location of tattoo shops.

According the Bailey, there are about 20 tattoo shops in Fresno, which are located within a tight radius. This sometimes sets up tension between shops when it comes to bringing in new clients and the revenue that comes with those clients.

“Fresno wants to bunch us all [tattoo shops] up. If we could spread out, it would make things easier on the consumer, artist and shop owners,” Bailey said. “They try to keep us up and down Blackstone, in the ghetto.”

Bailey worked in one shop where there was no problem with other shops being too close when he was at Scream City, located at Clovis and Ashlan avenues.

Bailey’s time at that shop — and the shop’s time itself — was short-lived. Problems that shop workers experienced with the city of Clovis led to a closure, even though the shop was technically in Fresno County.

Clovis classifies tattoo shops as “adult entertainment,” according to Bailey, which the city typically shies away from. This is the main reason no one sees tattoo shops anywhere in Clovis.

“This town really doesn’t need anymore tattoo shops,” Bailey said, “but my goal is to open one in the River Park area.”

For those who are fans of tattoos, traveling can be a burden, unless they are like Natalie Sittre, a Fresno State junior.

Sittre travels about 15 miles north from Easton to get tattooed.

“I don’t mind the drive. I have to drive a while to do anything,” Sittre said.

According to Sittre, the location of most shops is not necessarily bad but it is simply what you make of it.

“I like where they are located. You can be who you are and not worry about who is looking at you,” she said.

Young agrees.

“The shop locations don’t bother me. They may others, but not me,” Young said. “Although, I think they [the city] keep them [tattoo shops] were they are because tattoos are still unfortunately generally related to drugs and crime.”

Nevertheless, Sittre still feels that shop owners should be able to go were they want.

“I think they [shop owners] should be allowed anywhere,” she said.

Sittre added tattoos are a part of her generation and many people she knows have tattoos.

Danny “The Machine” Duran, co-owner of the Circle of Saints tattoo shop at Blackstone and Dakota avenues, agrees with Bailey on the way the city regulates the placement of tattoo shops.

“I like the zoning laws because they prevent us [the artist] from going where we want,” Duran said.

“Not only do the laws affect where shops open but the neighboring businesses do as well, to an extent.”

Duran said he and his business partner chose the older shopping center at Blackstone and Dakota for their shop because of the location. People around town know the area for its tattoo shops, and the new business owners thought they could bring new life to the shopping center with some younger blood.

“There are a bunch of older stores in this center, like Miller Sheet Music Sales and the sewing store.

Opening a shop here would help bring around some younger customers,” Duran said.

Circle of Saints is about the sixth shop that Duran has worked at in his nearly eight years of tattooing.

He has also had his share of problems with the current zoning rules, and the frustration of customers having to travel for body art.

“A lot of people wish there were shops closer to them. People from Clovis and the River Park area don’t like coming down Blackstone for tattoos, but they do it,” Duran said.

Like Bailey, Duran would also like to open a tattoo shop in the River Park area.

“I would like to put one [a shop] right smack dab next to Edwards [Cinema] or Barnes and Noble,” Duran said. “I wouldn’t even mind going into Fashion Fair or that new development at the Sierra Vista mall, but the rent for space in a building in those places is really expensive.”

No matter where a person gets them, tattoos definitely have different meanings for people than they have in the past.

“Getting a tattoo is like a girl getting her ears pierced. It’s not that uncommon of a thing anymore,” Sittre said.

As the business of tattooing has changed, the zoning rules on tattoo shops haven’t seemed to change with them.

“Zoning laws are unfair to both the artist and their clients,” Bailey said. “We are business people just like anyone else trying to make ends meet.”

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