Tattoo shops attract critical eye of official

In a memo to Largo's city manager, a commissioner questions whether tattoo shops are really what the city needs.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

LARGO -- When Marty Shelby reflects on the hours of discussion he and his fellow city commissioners have had about economic development, businesses like Show Me Your Tats are not what he had in mind.

"A proliferation of body piercing and head shops is not my concept of economic development," Shelby wrote in a memo to City Manager Steven Stanton Tuesday. "What can be done to stem this trend within our city?"

Such comments anger Rosco Marasco, who does body piercing and tattoos at Poda Tattoo and Body Piercing on Seminole Boulevard, a couple of blocks south of West Bay Drive. Marasco still remembers a letter from former Largo police Chief Jerry Bloechle welcoming the shop to the area when it opened in 1998.

"I don't think that's fair," Marasco, 35, said Thursday of Shelby's comments. "We're not hurting anybody."

Marasco knows of at least four body piercing shops in Largo. Head shops, where drug paraphernalia is sold, are not listed in the Yellow Pages, so no one knows for sure how many there may be in town.

Travis Riley, who manages Show Me Your Tats, dismissed the contention that his shop may not be a family-friendly business. He noted some seniors come to the shop at 111 N Missouri Ave., and so do families.

"Body piercing and tattooing has been around for tens of thousands of years, and we seem to be the only country that has a problem with it," said Riley, 25.

Shelby said he's received telephone calls from four residents in recent weeks, all worried about these types of businesses and their possible effect on Largo's image.

Shelby and the other city commissioners have signed off on spending millions of dollars on efforts to improve downtown Largo by improving drainage and widening West Bay Drive between Missouri Avenue and Clearwater-Largo Road. The commissioners also spent months debating and finally approving a vision for downtown Largo.

"It's not why I've supported putting tens of millions of dollars in downtown economic development," Shelby said Thursday. "I have made a commitment to the people that I will scrutinize anything that might degrade or disable the quality of life in the city."

But does that mean Largo should restrict body piercing salons or head shops in town, as Shelby's memo seems to ask?

Stanton said he is not sure municipal governments like Largo can take such action.

"I personally think it is horrible, but I don't know if it is legitimate to force them out," he said.

Largo does not have such ordinances. But it does have rules that strictly enforce what city officials consider undesirable businesses, like topless bars. For example, liquor cannot be sold inside such an establishment unless dancers wear clothing that covers various body parts.

Stanton believes such rules eventually forced one topless bar to leave town. Despite the tone of Shelby's letter, he later softened his stance in an interview.

"I have mixed feelings about it because free enterprise is one of the things that made this country great," he said. "But the issue is whether it is appropriate whether government can regulate it through zoning regulations."

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