Abilene, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

3(178) as any room or space where tattooing is practiced or the business of tattooing is conducted; if tattooing is only an accessory activity to another business, the space is not treated as a tattoo parlor and instead follows the zoning rules for its primary use. 1 fixes which zoning districts allow it. Under the matrix legend, 'P' means permitted by right and 'C' means the use needs a Conditional Use Permit; a blank cell means the use is prohibited outright in that district. Reading the tattoo parlor row against the matrix's twenty district columns, tattoo parlors are permitted by right (P) in the General Commercial (GC), Heavy Commercial (HC), and Light Industrial (LI) districts, and allowed only with a Conditional Use Permit (C) in the Neighborhood Retail (NR), General Retail (GR), and Central Business (CB) districts.

In every other zoning district, including all residential districts, Agricultural Open Space, and Heavy Industrial, a tattoo parlor is not an allowed use at all. 1: the applicant must submit a Site Plan along with the CUP application, and the permit, once granted, runs with the land rather than the operator, meaning it cannot be sold, transferred, or moved to a different property. Expanding, enlarging, or relocating an approved tattoo parlor later requires a brand-new CUP application under the same procedures. Because the matrix entry carries an asterisk noting that additional conditions may apply elsewhere in the Land Development Code, an applicant should confirm parking (the matrix sets tattoo parlors at one space per 500 square feet) and any use-specific standards before submitting plans.