Coconut Creek, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

The Land Development Code does not give tattooing its own line in the master business list of Division 8. Section 13-371(7) instead provides that licensed tattooing may be an accessory use, as determined by the director of sustainable development or designee under subsection 13-371(5), to a personal service establishment or medical office as defined in § 13-295. A personal service establishment is any licensed business providing barbering and/or cosmetology services, including barber, salon and spa establishments.

The accessory-use test in § 13-371(5) gives the director three questions. Is the use expressly permitted in some other district? Is it expressly prohibited in the district where it sits or in Division 9, Prohibited Uses? Does it occupy more than fifteen percent of the floor area of the principal use? Where floor area does not measure the use, the director looks at site area, gross sales, seating capacity, inventory, employees or hours of operation. If any answer is yes, the use is not accessory unless other conditions show it is a supplementary, directly related or complementary component of the principal use, it is not overly burdensome to other uses in the immediate area, and it does not create a more intense use than the zoning district permits.

Section 13-295 defines Tattooing as any licensed method of placing a mark or design on or under the skin by piercing and ingraining pigment, dye or ink, and the term includes permanent make-up and microblading. It defines a tattooing artist as a person licensed under F.S. §§ 381.00771 through 381.00791 who must apply for and receive a business tax receipt in the City of Coconut Creek before practicing.

The practical result is that a stand-alone tattoo shop has no listed use to point to. A tattoo station inside a salon or medical office needs the director's accessory determination first.