Lake Worth commission: No more tattoo shops downtown
Officials say city to focus on vision for its struggling center.
LAKE WORTH — There will be no more tattoo parlors or body piercing studios in downtown Lake Worth.
City commissioners unanimously passed Tuesday night a moratorium on those businesses for one year.
There was no discussion. But at the May 15 City Commission meeting, Commissioner Scott Maxwell said there should be a moratorium on tattoo shops in downtown Lake Worth.
“We do not need, in my humble opinion, a tattoo shop downtown when we’re trying to attract a new hotel, we’re trying to encourage tourism,” he said. “We’re 7 1/2 square miles ... and every inch of this city needs to be maximized for its best and highest use.”
Maxwell pointed out, at the time, that while the city has been talking about creating a “new Lake Worth,” they recently opened a tattoo shop downtown.
“Isn’t this what we were trying to get away from?” he asked. “Some of the images from our past?”
There is some concern among city officials about the type of crowds the shops attract that could lead to crime.
“Is this the Dark Ages?” Mayor Pam Triolo asked at the May 15 meeting. “A majority of millennials have tattoos, piercings or whatever. I’m happy to see storefronts filled and people coming to Lake Worth.”
City Attorney Glen Torcivia said the city can terminate the moratorium in less than a year.
“They can also extend it if they need to,” he said.
Lake Worth isn’t the only city with a tattoo parlor.
In November 2016, Delray Beach’s city commissioners approved changes to city codes that once prohibited tattoo businesses from opening in the city.
Delray Beach’s new regulations restrict tattoo shops from opening in certain areas, such as on the first floor of buildings facing Atlantic Avenue and Ocean Boulevard in downtown. Tattoo parlors in Delray Beach also can’t open within 750 feet of each other. Rebecca Loveless recently opened Delray Beach’s first tattoo shop on Avenue L on the city’s south end.
Solid Image Tattoo opened in Lake Worth in May, at 603 Lake Ave., one of the city’s three tattoo shops.
Shirley Harris is the shop’s creator and administrator. She told The Palm Beach Post she agrees with the commission’s decision.
“Most commissioners have welcomed us wonderfully, but most of them don’t want any more tattoo shops,” she said. “They don’t want to be inundated with them and want to put a limit on it. They feel three is enough.”
The other shops are Aces Tat High Tattoo on South Dixie Highway and Gypsy Soul Tattoo Parlor on North Dixie Highway.
“In my opinion, three is enough for everybody,” Harris said. “It’s like if you have bars right next to each other. How many people can you serve drinks to?”
Ariana Peters, managing partner at Peters Development, the company that owns 603 Lake Avenue and more than 40 properties in Lake Worth, said she’s fine with what the city’s doing.
“But I do think it’s important for us to welcome new, legal, conforming and positive businesses to our downtown,” she said. “We feel the city should keep an open mind because empty storefronts don’t portray a thriving downtown.”
That’s a discussion that’s been raging for months — what should downtown Lake Worth look like as a number of businesses are either closing or moving?
“It’s very disappointing to see another business close and leave downtown Lake Worth,” Sam Smith, a Lake Worth resident since 1999, recently told The Post. “Really, the only reason to go downtown is to go to a bar or restaurant or to buy dog food. Without a mix of family-oriented businesses and retail establishments, the traffic to downtown just continues to decrease, which impacts the other businesses.”
Kilwins, the downtown Lake Worth chocolate shop, closed last month because of high rents. Starbucks recently moved to North Dixie Highway. Studio 205, the gift and novelty shop off Lake Avenue, is moving in October because of a rent increase by Peters Development. Blue Front closed July 4 and became a catering business and Saito’s Restaurant shut its doors last month. Callaro’s Steak House was sold for $1.4 million and shut down for the summer, but is expected to reopen with new owners in the fall.
“Business owners are not getting rich,” Jack Portenza said at Tuesday’s meeting. “Many of them sit there day in and day out trying to pay their bills. What can we do to help them survive? We’ve recently lost a number of key businesses, and hopefully that trend will not continue.”
Portenza said downtown is like a garden that needs certain fertilizer.
“But certain plants don’t go with other plants,” he said.
The moratorium on tattoo parlors is set for one year to give staff time to further research the impact.
As for downtown, Vice Mayor Andy Amoroso, who owns Studio 205, said at the May 15 meeting the city needs a vision for it.
“I don’t know if we have that,” he said. “Years ago, we have a lot of antique shops downtown ... but if you don’t like antique shops, you weren’t coming downtown. We need a clear vision on what our downtown looks like.”