Hoover zoning board recommends approval for tattoo studio, cosmetology school

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday night voted 6-2-1 to recommend approval for a tattoo studio off Lorna Road and 9-0 in favor of a new cosmetology school on Rocky Ridge Road.

Both proposals now move to the Hoover City Council for final consideration.

Meanwhile, the zoning board postponed consideration of a proposal for a new event center in Trace Crossings at the request of the applicant after some problem issues were identified.

Two zoning board members — Councilwoman Khristi Driver and Greg Knighton, the city’s economic development manager — voted against the tattoo studio. Knighton said part of the Hoover Downtown Redevelopment Authority’s master plan calls for redeveloping Lorna Road, and he doesn’t believe a tattoo studio is the type of business the city is seeking to be a part of that.

Hoover City Planner Mac Martin also said the city administration did not recommend approval for the Stay Gold Tattoo Studio to relocate from 1022 20^th St. S. in the Five Points South area of Birmingham to the Lorna Town Square shopping center at 3133 Lorna Road in Hoover. He, too, said the city administration did not believe a tattoo studio fits with the purpose of the redevelopment plan for the city’s “central business district,” which is an area with a 6-mile-wide area that includes Lorna Road.

However, six zoning board members — Jason Lovoy, Jennifer Peace, Nathan Reed, Becky White, Ben Wieseman and Mike Wood — recommended the Hoover City Council approve the tattoo studio. New zoning board member Mike White abstained because his company, Southpace Properties, manages that shopping center.

Matthew Crane, the owner of the tattoo studio, told the zoning board his business does not fit the stereotype of what some people think of when they think about tattoo studios. He runs a well-established, reputable business and has been in the industry on and off for about 24 years, he said.

He has the shop in Birmingham’s Five Points South, a second shop in Fultondale and had a third one in Columbus, Mississippi, until the COVID-19 pandemic killed it, he said. Each of his shops does about $200,000 to $300,000 worth of business a year, he said.“My shops are a safe place for women and children,” he said, noting that he advertises his shops as a place for women and children to come if they feel they are being followed, are in danger or need an escort.

He wants to leave Southside because the atmosphere has gone down, he said. “I just don’t want to be out there anymore,” he said. “We just need to get out of there.”

Between the two shops, he has 20 tattoo artists, four body piercers and five apprentices, he said. In Lorna Town Square, he plans to have nine tattoo booths and be open 1-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-8 p.m. Sundays, he said.

Amy Creel, who lives in the adjacent Four Seasons Condominiums off Lorna Road, said she has known Crane for 20 years and supports his desire to open a business there. “He’s a really good, upstanding guy. The business is very lucrative,” she said. “Tattoo shops aren’t what they used to be, stipulated as the place where ruffians go and hang out and there’s lot of trouble. It’s not like that anymore.”

Lorna Town Square already has zoning as a C-1 neighborhood shopping district, but a tattoo studio requires “conditional use” approval from the city.

Other tenants in the shopping center now include Boost Mobile, flA.S.H. Movementz Dance Studio, Sky Vape & CBD, Soap Box Laundromat, Templo de los Milagros Hoover, Imperio Tienda Hispana and Taqueria Los Primos.

COSMETOLOGY SCHOOL

The zoning board’s vote in favor of a cosmetology school at 2169 and 2171 Rocky Ridge Road, at the corner of Rocky Ridge Road and Lynngate Drive, came with some conditions attached it.

Charlotte Hinton said she wants to open a cosmetology school in a roughly 2,000-square-foot space in a small strip center that currently is divided for three tenants. Two of the spaces are occupied by the Crème de la Crème Salon and a heating, ventilation and air conditioning repair business, but the third one is vacant.

This property also is zoned as a C-1 neighborhood business district, but a cosmetology school also requires conditional use approval in such a district.

The zoning board recommended the City Council approve Hinton’s request as long as the following conditions are met:

• No more than eight people could be in the business at one time due to limited parking.
• Hours would be limited to 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
• Six marked parking spaces in the parking lot would have to be removed by the property owner due to proximity to the streets and dumpster.
• The dumpster would have to be screened from public view.

EVENT CENTER

Hoover resident Mashaal Almansoob was seeking permission to open a new event facility at 509 Feldspar Lane in a sector of the Trace Crossings community zoned for “planned industrial” use. It would take up a little more than half of an existing 20,535-square-foot office/warehouse building not far from the new Brock’s Gap Brewing Co., Almansoob said in his application to the city.

The plan is to convert the space to accommodate events for up to 180 people, with an emphasis on weddings and receptions, Almansoob said in his application. He resolves to hold events after 5 p.m. on weekdays and anytime on weekends and holidays, he said.

The building currently is built for two tenants and has 63 parking spaces, according to the application.

However, the city planner said city staff aren’t sure this is a suitable site for an event facility because the city’s comprehensive plan doesn’t clearly support event venues in this vicinity. Also, the building has no sprinkler system, the layout of the event venue was not clearly identified in drawings submitted to the city, and the parking area does not seem sufficient to accommodate 180 people because the as-built survey for the property does not indicate 63 parking spaces, Martin said.

If the zoning board were to recommend approval for an event facility there, those issues would need to be rectified, and some additional conditions are recommended, including bringing handicapped parking spaces up to code, prohibiting parking on the public street, addressing some egress concerns and limiting hours of operation, Martin said.

At Martin’s recommendation, Alan Wisdom, an architect for Almansoob, asked that the case be continued until the next zoning board meeting on Sept. 11 to allow time for more discussions.