Artist Jazmin Murphy works on a customer at Southern Cypress Tattoo in Columbia’s Five Points neighborhood on Jan. 20. Mike Fitts/The Post and Courier. COLUMBIA — A tattoo shop owner looking to expand as her business grows ran into an unexpected obstacle: a restriction that the city passed quietly in late 2021. A city ordinance, passed as part of a revision to zoning rules, prevents tattoo shops from being approved to open within 1,000 feet — or about two city blocks — from an existing tattoo parlor. That rule has blocked Stephanie Melora, owner of Southern Cypress Tattoo in Five Points, from adding three new booths across Greene Street from her shop, as that building has an existing tattoo parlor in it, plus her main space and another parlor nearby. Melora made a plea before Columbia City Council on Jan. 17 to win an exception that would allow her to expand in Five Points, where she is on the district’s board. “This is my home,” Melora told the council. “These are my people, and I want to see my business continue to grow in the community I love and serve.” Inks and equipment are at the ready inside Southern […]
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