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

Under section 77-49(e) of the zoning ordinance, a body art studio, defined in section 77-29 as any establishment offering tattooing or body piercing, must be licensed by the state and meet all city environmental health requirements before it opens. The schedule of permitted uses at section 77-46(k) lists body art studio as a permitted (P) use only in the LI Light Industrial and HI-1 Heavy Industrial-1 districts, cross-referenced to section 77-49(e); every other zoning district in the city, including all residential districts, the Central Area and general retail, keeps the use off the table entirely.

Even where the use table shows a plain permitted-by-right entry, section 77-49(e)(2) layers on an additional requirement: any body art studio operating as a primary or standalone business must still obtain a specific use permit from the city council, and the location must sit at least 1,000 feet, measured property line to property line in a straight line, from any other body art studio, church, day care, residentially zoned district, or public or parochial school. The council can shrink that buffer to 300 feet, but only on a specific finding that the closer distance will not be detrimental or injurious to public health, safety or general welfare, or offensive to the neighborhood.

A narrower path exists for services layered inside an existing business: tattooing, permanent cosmetics and body piercing may be run as an accessory use inside a custom personal service shop without triggering the standalone SUP and buffer rules.