Tattoo shop displeased

OREM — A tattoo shop's owners aren't entirely pleased with a decision by the Utah County Department of Health to allow a charter school to open within 600 feet of the store.

Quality Tattoo has been open for three years at 357 S. State, and the school, Noah Webster Academy, is new to the neighborhood. The school, scheduled to open its doors to 525 students in kindergarten through sixth grade in the fall, will share a back yard with the back of the body-art shop.

As a result, the health department was confronted with the legal question over whether its 600-foot rule that prohibits tattoo parlors from opening near a school also works in the reverse.

The department's environmental health office talked with a lawyer at the Utah County Attorney's Office and decided it cannot prohibit a school from opening. So at the beginning of June, the department notified the tattoo owners in a letter that they will receive a permanent waiver to the rule.

The environmental health officials also promised a permanent waiver to any future owner of Quality Tattoo, which addressed a main concern of Quality Tattoo owners Jack Eldredge and Alyssa Tippetts, who hope in the next couple years to build the business and sell it or start franchises.

But the owners say the health department should revise the rule to prevent similar problems in the future and not grant waivers as exceptions come up.

Tippetts says she'll make sure to keep children out of her shop — but cannot guarantee a future owner would have the same commitment.

"I don't want to be responsible for that (future owner)," Tippetts said. "We don't want to be the exception to the rule, that's all."

The health department is not interested in amending the rule because it does not anticipate many similar situations in the future.

"We don't think it'll be an issue in the future," said Terry Beebe, environmental health director for the health department. "We'll probably take (similar situations) on a case-by-case basis."

If Quality Tattoo's owners want to appeal, they must first take their case to Dr. Joseph Miner, director of the county health department. If the owners do not like Miner's decision, they can appeal again to the Utah County Board of Health.

The owners have not yet begun the appeal process but are seeking legal advice from an attorney. They also plan to talk with officials at the Utah State Health Department.

"It has left us very concerned that the safety issue has been overlooked at the state level," Tippetts said. "I just believe the state director of the health department needs to know what happened."

The developers of the charter school say that the proximity of Quality Tattoo is not among their top concerns because a wall will separate the properties. Rather, they worry about traffic on nearby busy State Street.

"Frankly, it's not just the tattoo shop, it's State Street," said Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, who runs U.S. Charter Development, which is developing the school. "I don't think the tattoo shop is going to see the kids and the kids are not going to see the tattoo shop."

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com