July 9th, 2009 by Inkme
Tattoos cover most of Tom Preston’s forearm and curl around his neck. He is used to people judging him by the colored etchings on his skin.
But as a taxpayer and business owner, he thought City Hall would be different.
“You expect (elected officials) to be completely unbiased,” he said after the latest episode in his two-year battle to open a tattoo and body-piercing studio in Tempe. Preston and his wife, Elizabeth, left Maricopa County Superior Court this week wondering how a few neighbors could sway Tempe City Council from allowing them to open a legal business.
The legal battle began in fall 2007 when the Prestons sued Tempe for the right to open their studio after the city revoked their business permit. While Tempe says it was protecting neighbors’ rights, Preston thinks the decision was based on tattoo stereotypes.
“Policemen, teachers, firefighters, soldiers . . . have tattoos nowadays,” Preston said. “This all just seems like . . . prejudice.”
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July 9th, 2009 by Inkme
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled in favor of a Gilbert couple’s right to open a tattoo studio in Tempe, according to court documents.
Goldwater Institute’s Clint Bolick, who represents the Tom and Elizabeth Preston, said he received notice Thursday that Judge Robert Oberbillig ruled the Tempe City Council’s decision in 2007 to revoke the Prestons business use permit was “arbitrary and capricious.”
The City Council had ruled unanimously to revoke the permit when neighbors near the proposed north Tempe location complained that the tattoo studio would add to a cluster of adult-oriented business already located in the strip mall.
Neighbors worried a tattoo studio opening alongside a liquor store, lingerie shop and bail-bonds business would lower their property values and stymie attempts to revitalize their neighborhood. The Prestons said the city based its decision on stereotypes and allowed prejudice to cloud their judgment. City officials maintain they are not discriminating against the Prestons, pointing to at least 12 tattoo studios that operate in Tempe. Tempe officials maintained the council has the authority to protect neighbors’ rights and manage development.
The ruling is “absolute jubilation” for the Prestons, who invested nearly $30,000 to open the business in 2007, Bolick said. Oberbillig also ruled that Tempe is not immune from paying damages as the city had maintained. The Prestons plan to sue the city for damages to recover the money they invested in attempting to open the business, he added.
Original Post Here: http://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/2009/07/09/20090709tattoo0709-On.html
January 17th, 2009 by admin
Barry Lycka asked:
Tattooing, which is defined as the permanent insertion of ink or other pigments below the skin using a sharp instrument, has been used for cosmetic and ritual purposes since the Neolithic era. It has been used to identify criminals, invoke magical powers and, most recently, to adorn the skin with colorful designs in what has become a major trend.
Indeed, a recent telephone survey done by the American Academy of Dermatology reports that 36 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 are tattooed, and 24 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 50 have been inked. This represents a 16 percent increase over a similar survey done in 2003!
But what happens when that tattoo you thought was so cool 20 years ago just isn’t cool anymore?
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