Lancaster, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)
Key Facts
- Allowed zones
- C and CPD, with Director's Review
- Barred zone
- OP (office professional)
- Covers
- Microblading and permanent makeup
- Approval type
- Director's Review, not a hearing
- Governing section
- Municipal Code § 17.12.040 Uses Matrix
- Max misdemeanor fine
- $1,000 and/or 6 months jail
Summary
Tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments, a category that specifically includes microblading and permanent makeup studios, need a Director's Review before opening in Lancaster's Commercial (C) or Commercial Planned Development (CPD) zones. The Office Professional (OP) zone bars the use outright, per the Uses Matrix in Municipal Code Section 17.12.040.
Commercial Zones — Uses Matrix USES P = permitted use / DR = director's review / MUP = minor use C = conditional use / N/A = not allowed ZONES C CPD OP
[...] Tattoo Parlors and Body Piercing Establishments This use includes microblading and permanent makeup. DR DR N/A
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 10 - 2025).
Full Breakdown
040, which assigns every commercial use a permit code of P (permitted), DR (director's review), C (conditional use permit) or N/A (not allowed) across the C, CPD and OP zones. The row for "Tattoo Parlors and Body Piercing Establishments" is marked DR, DR, N/A: a shop can locate in the C or CPD zone only after the community development director approves a director's review application, and it cannot locate in the OP (office professional) zone at all. The code folds microblading and permanent makeup studios into the same category, so a cosmetic-tattoo business faces the identical review, not a lighter salon-type license.
32. Because the use is not flagged with an asterisk or footnote elsewhere in the matrix, no separate conditional use permit or distance-from-schools standard applies to tattoo shops the way it does for some alcohol or adult-business categories. An operator who opens without the required director's review, or who operates in the OP zone where the use is barred, is violating Title 17 and can be cited under the code's general zoning enforcement provision.
Violations & Fines
Operating a tattoo or piercing business without the required director's review, or in the OP zone where it is not allowed, is a violation of Title 17 prosecutable under Municipal Code Section 17.04.220, which applies the penalties in Chapter 1.12. That chapter makes a first zoning violation a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and/or six months in Los Angeles County jail, or, if charged as an infraction, fines of $100, $200 and $500 for successive violations within a year, with each day of continued noncompliance a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need city approval to open a tattoo shop in Lancaster?
Can a microblading or permanent makeup studio skip the tattoo review?
Can I open a tattoo studio in an Office Professional zone?
What happens if I operate without the required review?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lancaster
California rules heatmap·Compare Lancaster to another location·View the California business licensing & operations overview
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