Santa Cruz County, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

332-1), lists "personal services (barber shop, beauty salon, tattoo parlor, nail salon)" as an allowed commercial use with permit requirements that vary by zone district. In the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial district a tattoo parlor needs a Minor Use Permit (MUP), a discretionary approval processed without public notice, unless the business occupies fewer than 2,000 square feet, in which case the chart note makes it permitted by right with no use permit at all. In the C-2 Community Commercial district it is permitted by right outright.

In the VA Visitor Accommodations and CT Tourist Commercial districts it needs a Minor Use Permit and must be ancillary or complementary to another allowed use already on the site; in the PA Professional Administrative Office, C-3 and C-4 districts it needs an Administrative Use Permit on that same ancillary basis, meaning a primary allowed use must already be in place, or proposed at the same time, before the personal-service use can be approved. 332(B)(1), which sets conditions once for every use it covers rather than requiring a separate permit each time. 332(B)(2)(a) are all met, including that the new use is allowed in the zone and does not intensify the existing use.