Murrieta, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)
Key Facts
- Use category
- Personal Services (16.110.020)
- Permitted zones
- NC, CC, RC commercial districts
- Permit needed
- Zoning clearance, Chapter 16.74
- CUP required
- No, for tattoo/piercing use itself
- Parking standard
- 1 space per 250 sq ft
Summary
Murrieta classifies tattoo parlors, body piercing studios and electrolysis shops as "Personal Services" under the development code. That use is permitted by right in the city's Neighborhood, Community and Regional Commercial zones, but a zoning clearance under Chapter 16.74 is still required before opening.
Personal Services. Establishments providing non-medical related services, including beauty and barber shops; clothing rental: dry cleaning pick-up stores and small-scale dry' cleaners without pick-up and delivery services; laundromats (self-service laundries); shoe repair shops; tanning salons; fortune telling; and therapeutic (non-sexual) massage services, body piercing, tattooing, electrolysis. These uses may also include accessory retail sales of products related to the services provided.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-23: A Codification of the General Ordinances of the City of Murrieta, California through Ord. 634-26, passed 7-7-2026).
Full Breakdown
Murrieta's development code does not license tattoo or piercing shops as a separate business category. 020 folds them into the citywide "Personal Services" definition alongside beauty and barber shops, dry cleaners, laundromats, shoe repair shops, tanning salons and non-sexual massage. 10-1 (Use Table for Commercial Zoning Districts) lists Personal Services as a "P" (permitted) use in the Neighborhood Commercial (NC), Community Commercial (CC) and Regional Commercial (RC) districts, meaning a tattoo studio does not need a conditional use permit or a public hearing to locate in any of those three zones.
18; they do not apply to tattooing, body piercing or electrolysis operators. 74 before signage, tenant improvements or occupancy, confirming the specific commercial suite is zoned P for the use and meets applicable development standards such as parking (one space per 250 square feet of gross floor area for personal-service tenants). A city business license, obtained separately through the finance department, is required of every business operating in Murrieta regardless of zoning classification.
Violations & Fines
Operating a tattoo or piercing studio in a zone where Personal Services is not listed as permitted, or opening before the zoning clearance and business license are issued, exposes the operator to code enforcement action and can trigger a stop-work or cease-operations order from the community development services department until the paperwork is completed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Murrieta require a special permit just for tattooing?
Do the massage-specific rules in Chapter 5.18 apply to tattoo shops?
Can a tattoo studio open in a residential zone in Murrieta?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Murrieta
California rules heatmap·Compare Murrieta to another location·View the California business licensing & operations overview
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