Montebello, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Montebello Municipal Code § 17.08.835 defines a body art establishment as any premises, or facility incidental to one, that performs body piercing, tattooing, branding, or the application of permanent cosmetics. The definition carves out a narrow exception: a facility that only pierces the ear using a disposable, single-use, presterilized clasp-and-stud or solid needle applied by a mechanical device is not a body art establishment, so mall jewelry kiosks that only offer ear piercing fall outside the rule. Appendix A, the city's Index of Primary Uses, lists 'Body Art Establishments' with footnote 62 and marks the use 'C' (conditional use permit) in the C-1, C-2, C-M and M-1 zones; the use does not appear in the R-A, R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4 or C-R columns, so it is not permitted there in any form.

Footnote 62 layers a distance rule on top of the permit requirement: a new body art establishment must sit at least five hundred feet from any other existing body art establishment, and at least one thousand feet from a single-family detached dwelling, a public or private elementary, intermediate or high school, a place of religious assembly, a library, a public park, or any city-owned facility. An applicant seeking to open a shop applies to the Planning and Community Development Department for the conditional use permit required by Chapter 17.70, which requires a public hearing and written findings before the planning commission can approve, condition or deny the request. Operating without the required conditional use permit, or inside the required buffer, is a zoning violation under Title 17.