Tattoo Shops Could Be Coming to Downtown Brentwood

On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council agreed to direct staff to work on a potential amendment that would allow tattoo shops in the downtown area.

The item was under Future Agenda Items, so it will return at a future meeting for more discussion, however, Councilmember Tony Oerlemans introduced the item saying he was approached two years ago by Calculated Punkture Tattoo expressing an interest in moving into the downtown.

The tattoo shop cannot move into the downtown because of the Downtown Specific Plan which prohibits tattoo businesses.

Oerlemans shared the difference between their current location and the downtown is less than a half-mile noting the owners want to work with local businesses and the Downtown Brentwood Coalition while supporting the community.

Oerlemans formally requested a text amendment in the Downtown Specific Plan to allow for tattoo parlors.

Vice Mayor Pa’Tanisha Pierson said this came to her attention while she was getting a tattoo of her own sharing a story of a Liberty HS graduate on why was it okay to draw artwork on the side of buildings and electrical boxes that people called beautiful but it was not okay for him to be able to do artwork on human beings in the downtown area.

“To me, while the plan is great and protects the downtown, it has some counter language that doesn’t make sense,” said Pierson who shared it says no tattoo parlors but also says expansion of retail and attracts smaller businesses.

“Our current law to me infringes on the First Amendment right,” said Pierson while citing Anderson v. City of Hermosa Beach found a ban on tattoo parlors was unconstitutional which infringed on the right of Freedom of Expression which is protected under Freedom of Speech.

She continued, suggesting outdated stereotypes were the issue while infringing on artistic and cultural enrichment while the city also not looking at economic benefits.

There were 43 written comments in advance of the item, while several people at the meeting also offered support.

Chris Juarez, of Calculated Puncture Tattoo’s, spoke during the meeting saying they opened 15-years ago and shared his interest in relocating to downtown. He supported changing the outdated policy.

“We recognize that tattoo and piercing studios used to carry negative stigma and faced negative stereotypes in the past but that outlook is extremely outdated as tattoos are enow widely accepted and have become one of the top forms of self-expression for all walks of life,” explained Juarez who added changing the policy would have a positive impact in the downtown area.

Council Discussion

Back during council discussion, Pierson shared cosmetic spa’s have services like microblading which are tattoos which some businesses are already doing these types of services.

Again, Pierson asked “why not and what is the stereotype” for not having this allowed saying it felt like discrimination with “old Popeye archaic thought in our heads” that tattoos equal “drunk and belligerent”.

Councilmember Jovita Mendoza had concerns noting the Downtown Specific Plan and how the downtown was becoming an entertainment hub which is the reason why tattoo shops were not allowed downtown.

“If we are going to look at changing the municipal code, I think it’s a bigger conversation that has to be done during the downtown specific plan that we can bring during the strategic item,” said Mendoza noting they would be changing the plan that a lot of people participating. “That is better than us arbitrarily changing it.”

Mendoza said she didn’t like changing the plan because if she did it for one person, it made her look like she was doing it for “special interest”.

“Let’s bring in a consultant. Let’s figure out what the best use for everything. Let’s figure out how we keep our downtown alive,” said Mendoza. “Let’s not forget, when I moved here, our downtown as dead and they worked really hard over the last four years to change it. Let’s bring in a consultant and let’s talk about how we do this.”

She questioned do they allow them and if so how many but called it bigger than a municipal code change. She welcomed bringing back a consultant and review the plan with the businesses and residents to then decide.

Oerlemans disagreed.

“I think we heard from our citizens today what they want. We have 5 that came up, 43 comments that were written in and 42 were positive in support of this. I think our citizens are telling us what they want, and I think its time we listen to them and move it forward,” stated Oerlemans.

Mendoza explained they needed to look at the tax impact and a zoning change.

Oerlemans understood.

“I don’t have a problem with that,’ said Oerlemans. “Everybody in the city of Brentwood had the opportunity to come in here and tell me why they didn’t want a tattoo parlor downtown. And I heard from 1. Everybody in the City of Brentwood had the opportunity to tell me why they wanted a tattoo parlor and I heard from 45. Well, 45 is way more than 1. So I tend to lean towards that as opposed to lets get a consultant to tell me what I want my downtown to look like.”

Mendoza replied, “Is called planning, that is what they are the experts in. We are not the experts.”

Pierson shot back noting when you don’t change planning it doesn’t bring in inclusivity so keeping things the same doesn’t serve people when we want to be more inclusive.

“I don’t know that we need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consultant to tell us when we can sit here as a council saying we don’t want more than two, we don’t want more than 1 because we want diversity,” said Pierson while noting she didn’t understand how the clothing stores were considered entertainment.

Mayor Susannah Meyer questioned if there was still a wait list to get downtown and if they made the change would this take away from someone else who “may be more entertainment” or might be a restaurant. She also added she thought they would hear more from the Downtown Brentwood Coalition on the item while admitting she didn’t read the 43 public comments.

Mendoza wanted to know more about the implications of approving it and what they could be taking away. She also wanted to know who else was waiting to get into the downtown—she disagreed with Pierson that it was discriminatory.

Councilmember Faye Maloney wanted to know more about what the Downtown Brentwood Coalition and residents feel about this. She shared the perception of tattoos have changed.

Mendoza jumped in stating she wanted the city to meet with the Downtown Brentwood Coalition to get their thoughts while also working with economic development department to see if there were “something else with a better opportunity cost” that fits the current plan—if not, they could talk about it.

Pierson reminded the council this was not city land; it was private property.

Mendoza said, “if we are going to do one tattoo shop, I need to know the domino effect and I would like a consultant to come in and let’s look at the core downtown.”

City Manager Tim Ogden shared there could be a compromise but that staff could look at the market studies show, what wait list looks like, the demand, the vacancy rate, and also consider a potential cap on tattoo shops if they are allowed. They would also look at opportunity costs where there might be another higher value job creating or sales business. They could bring that back to the council—including legal issues brought up by Pierson.

The council agreed 5-0 to move forward with the agenda item to direct staff to work on a potential text amendment to allow tattoo shops in the downtown area—along with background information.

Council to Review Farmers Market Configuration — Expansion

The item was requested by Councilmember Jovita Mendoza who highlighted her item actually may need to be tweaked from a “configuration” to an “expansion” – given the long waiting list. Mendoza also said given what The Streets of Brentwood is doing, they need to compete and bring in people from all over the bay.

There was discussion of how it would expand from either down towards the Veterans Hall, or even towards City Park.

Some of the public comments include:

Tom Gregory spoke about how he has submitted an application for a Thursday Night farmers market as an option because a lot of people cannot get into the farmers market –says staff has it and working on it but its very limited because Temporary Use Permit do not allow for repetitive events.

Lynn Tei, Downtown Brentwood Coalition, said they support the farmers market and agreed with expansion to include more streets calling it a “great benefit” to the surrounding businesses.

Amy Noack, Boondoggies, loved the idea of an expansion.

Vikky Little, Sip and Scoop, expressed concerns over changes in configuration noting most of their sales come from Saturday’s market, but did support expansion.

Vice Mayor PA’Tanisha Pierson supported the idea of expansion and questioned if they could adjust the farmers market tents so people would be walking between the tents and businesses versus in the middle of the street.

“I think it’s a big deal. People come to Brentwood for our farmers market. It’s a good one and I’d like to see us do that,” said Pierson.

Mayor Susannah Meyer said a few years ago they expanded the farmers market year round and would support the idea expansion but also find a way to incorporate more “locals” into the market in an effort to get more people the benefit. She supported moving the item forward.

Mendoza asked to explore the idea of “booth locations” for existing businesses.

The council directed staff to discuss with the farmers market organizers expansion and reconfiguration – while seeing if they can support local businesses who may want a booth.

Planning Commissioners Appointed

On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council appointed three members to the planning commission;

• Flohr – approved in 3-2 vote
• Brand – approved in 3-2 vote
• Jones – approved in 5-0

According to the staff report, the appointments came after the council received a total of 31 applications. The council was then asked to select up to five candidates to interview based off the applications. From there, each applicant that received at least two council votes were picked for an interview.

Interviewed applicants include:

• Brayden Haena
• Jeremy Jones
• Jon Elam
• Kristopher Brand
• Narayana Krishna
• Rod Flohr
•  Shauna Polk

Editors Note – for both items, here is a list of public comments submitted (83 pages)