Oakley Franklin got her wish. The Heber City Council voted June 3 to allow tattoo shops and “body art facilities” in town.
After five months of meetings with the City Council and Heber City Planning Commission, Franklin and her mother, Julie, succeeded in persuading officials to make a code change. Tattoo shops were banned in Heber City in February 2012 and were continued to be banned after a code rewrite in 2022. One shop — Trigger Happy Tattoo & Art Co. on 100 S — managed to open despite the ban.
The matter was passed to the City Council after a Planning Commission meeting in May. Commissioners at the time examined why tattoo shops were banned in the first place. Under the 2012 code change, tattoo shops were lumped in with “sexually oriented businesses” the City Council and Planning Commission made strides to prohibit.
Planning Commission Vice Chair Tori Broughton said Tuesday that allowing tattoo shops would “bring them into the light” rather than “working in the dark.”
“Driving it to the edges and into the industrial zones is actually what turns those areas into seedier areas,” Broughton said, speaking in favor of allowing tattoo shops in commercial zones as well as industrial zones.
Franklin, whose mother considers her to be an artist as well as a tattooing professional, said she believed there would not be a concern of individuals seeking out “offensive” tattoos. As a realism artist, Franklin said she hopes to do more portraits and meaningful pieces.
“I think the majority of art we would see is something beautiful,” Franklin said.
City Councilor Yvonne Barney agreed, explaining that she has family members with tattoos that she considers to be “beautiful pieces of art.” She emphasized that her questions about the specifics of tattooing in Heber City is “not in any way to say body art is seedy or unlawful.”
“My only concern is that we protect ourselves and our community from individuals who do not have the same intentions as Oakley has,” Barney said.
Before the vote, City Councilor Mike Johnston agreed.
“I really think this is much ado about nothing,” Johnston said. “I have no concern about people that get tattoos or people that give tattoos … it’s not offensive to me.”
The City Council voted unanimously in favor of the change.