New Berlin, WI Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

New Berlin's zoning code treats cosmetic tattoo establishments and permanent cosmetics businesses as a distinct, defined use in Chapter 275. The commercial-district use table, Table 275-34-1, lists them as a principal (by-right) use in the B-1 Shopping Center, B-2 General Retail Sales and Service, B-3 General Bulk Sales and B-5 Rural Commercial Districts. The office and industrial use table, Table 275-35-1, allows the same use as a principal use in the M-1 Light Manufacturing, M-2 General Industrial and M-3 Section 34-35 Business Park Districts, but only as a conditional use, requiring Plan Commission review under section 275-27, in the O-1 Office and Business Service, O-2 Business Park Development and O-3 Transitional Office Districts.

Section 275-41 C(17), the use-specific regulation cross-referenced from both tables, imposes a single but firm precondition: the applicant must provide the Department of Community Development a copy of all state licenses relating to any application for permanent cosmetics before the City will issue a zoning permit. Because section 275-24 already bars occupying, altering or operating any use in the city without a zoning permit issued after use, site plan and architectural review, the state-license requirement is folded directly into that same gatekeeping step, meaning a shop cannot open its doors or begin fit-out inspections until the state paperwork is on file with the city.

New Berlin does not separately license or inspect the practice itself; the state license requirement is the entire local layer, and it applies uniformly regardless of which of the seven eligible zoning districts the establishment locates in.