Norfolk Council poised to retain ban on tattoo shops in Tuesday vote

NORFOLK -- In what would be a rare display of disunity, the City Council is likely today to turn down the city manager's proposal to allow tattoo parlors to operate in the city.

Four of eight council members said Monday they will vote against an ordinance that would allow parlors to operate downtown and in some larger shopping centers, such as Janaf, Southern and Wards Corner.

Mayor Paul D. Fraim, who supports the proposal, said he hopes a compromise can be reached, but he acknowledged the divisions are deep on the council, which has been debating the issue for nearly a year.

Once famous for its tattoo parlors, Norfolk banned them in 1950. In recent years, lawsuits challenging prohibitions against tattoo parlors have succeeded in other cities. And Blue Horseshoe Tattoo, which operates parlors in Virginia Beach and Hampton, has filed suit against Norfolk.

The case is to be heard in Circuit Court next Tuesday. During the council's last discussion of the issue in July, City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko warned the council that "time is running out."

Nonetheless, Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick said he will vote against any ordinance that allows tattoo parlors because he is opposed to them in principle.

Council members W. Randy Wright, Barclay C. Winn and Don Williams said they oppose the current proposal because most large shopping centers are located in "fragile" areas.

They said they want the city to follow the example of Virginia Beach and compel tattoo parlors to operate in industrial areas, which they said would have less effect on residential areas.

Winn said the city's proposal would have a disproportionate effect on Little Creek Road, from Wards Corner to the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.

"What I'm concerned about is a legal challenge," Wright added. "Virginia Beach has carved out a position that is legally defensible. And industrial areas would have less impact on neighborhoods than any other zoning."

Anthony L. Burfoot, who represents many low-income neighborhoods, said the opposite is true. Industrial areas are intermingled with many of the neighborhoods he represents, many of which are predominantly black.

Voting to restrict tattoo parlors to these areas "is the way they did things in this city 30 years ago," Burfoot said, referring to a time when factories and other enterprises considered objectionable to residents were largely consigned to black neighborhoods.

Allowing parlors to be in commercial areas would spread tattoo parlors all across the city, he added. "If we're going to do this, we need to be respectful of all communities and have some balance."

Councilwoman Daun S. Hester did not return a phone call Monday, but she agreed with Burfoot during the debate last month.

Councilwoman Theresa Whibley was not on the council during the July debate and also did not return a phone call.

Clifton Evans, who manages Blue Horseshoe Tattoo's Virginia Beach store, said the impasse is only delaying the inevitable.

"I guess the people on City Council are a little older and set in their ways," he said. "It's a shame."