91原创 Township residents will soon be able to get a tattoo, after council began the process to reverse a decades-old ban this month.

There was little discussion at the July 24 meeting as the Township council voted 8-1 in favour of having municipal staff update the bylaw. A final vote is scheduled for Monday, September 11.

The change came out of a March meeting, at which Councillor Barb Martens raised the issue that the Township is one of the few municipalities in the area that outright bans tattoo shops from operating.

鈥淭he spirit of this one is to allow tattoo shops in the Township of 91原创 to be put into suitable zoning locations, and to bring the Township into this century,鈥� Marten said last spring.

Coun. Michael Pratt noted that although there don鈥檛 seem to have been requests for tattoo shops by operators, that just means potential operators saw the rules and decided not to try.

鈥淲e know how hard it is sometimes to fight a municipality to change the rules,鈥� he said.

Coun. Tim Baillie said the existing ban dated to an era when tattoos were stereotypical only worn by sailors and bikers, and called the ban 鈥減re-Victorian.鈥�

The new draft bylaw will bring the Township into line with provincial regulations, which recognize tattoo shops as 鈥減ersonal service use鈥� businesses, in the same category with barbers and hair salons, indoor tanning, manicures, and ear piercing businesses.

The bylaw noted that 91原创 City is one of the few local municipalities to have some restrictions 鈥� it limits tattoo shops from opening within 400 metres of another tattoo shop.

The new bylaw will also allow people to set up a tattoo shop as a home-based business.

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