Mayor Wants New Vote On Tattoo Beer License

Mayor Wants New Vote On Tattoo Beer License
Article by: SlingerVille Staff
November 27, 2012

The license for Vishnu Bunny Tattoo parlors request for a malt beverage license came with some opposition at Tuesday night's conference and passed by a single vote, but Mayor Mike Huether would like the city council to reconsider the decision. He believes there could have been more public input.

According to KeloLand.com, the reason he believes that is because the wrong address was on the legal notice that was given out to neighbors about the license.

The owner of Vishnu Bunny Tattoo in downtown Sioux Falls promises that there are no plans to serve beer inside the tattoo parlor on a regular basis.

"We're looking for three hours one Friday a month," owner Jeff Mann said.

On this night, once a month, Mann intends to have an art show with beer and wine.

"So the first Friday, what we're looking to do is we cease all tattooing at about six-o-clock and we close for an hour and we transition into an art gallery," Mann said.

But Huether has some reservations.

"One ordinance says that if you're the tattoo artist you can't drink while you are giving the tattoo. The second ordinance says that if you are a patron that's going to get a tattoo you can't drink either, so why in the world are we mixing alcohol in a tattoo parlor?" Huether said.

In order for Huether to get the council to reconsider its 4-to-3 vote, is if one of the council members who voted in favor of the license has to bring it up at the next meeting.

Huether not only wants them to reconsider because of the ordinances on the books but because the wrong address was posted on the letters notifying neighbors of the license request as well.

"When we had the wrong address on there, it didn't really give the right notification to the neighbors of Vishnu Bunny," Huether said.

But Mann reported that his neighbors were informed.

Ben Dunsmoor: So you posted it on your door that you were getting, applying, for this license?

Mann: Yes.

Dunsmoor: So it's the city's own fault for posting the wrong address when they notified neighbors?

Mann: Yeah, I suppose.

As far as concerns about drinking and tattooing, Mann says in addition to city ordinances, as a tattoo parlor he is restricted from serving alcohol while tattooing.

"We have ordinances in place per our health license that we can't have open containers here while we are tattooing," Mann said.

One city council chairwoman, Michelle Erpenbach, did not attend Tuesday night's meeting and therefore did not vote.

Huether adds that if the council does reassess the vote, and if it was a tie vote, he will cut the tie by voting against the beer license for Vishnu Bunny Tattoo.

Source: http://www.keloland.com/newsdetail.cfm/mayor-wants-new-vote-on-tattoo-beer-license/?id=140285

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