New Braunfels, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Chapter 144 zones New Braunfels by permitted-use lists tied to each district rather than a single citywide business-license standard. 3-9(a)(1), governing the "C-3" commercial district, states that uses permitted by right are those set forth in the land use matrix in Sec. 2 and then itemizes those uses, including "Tattoo and body piercing studio" among the non-residential uses. The same article repeats an identical entry, worded "Tattoo or body piercing studio," in the permitted-use lists for the "C-4" resort commercial district (Sec. 3-10), the "M-1" light industrial district (Sec.

3-11) and the "M-2" heavy industrial district (Sec. 3-12). Sec. 2 is the master land use matrix these pre-1987 district lists are intended to be identical with, and the same use carries forward into the city's post-1987 zoning categories, so a studio opening in a newer district checks that matrix rather than the older Article III list. Because the use does not appear in the R-1 through R-3 residential lists, the TH or ZH districts, or the B-1, C-1 or C-2 business district lists, an operator cannot open in those zones regardless of storefront size.

There is no separate city health permit or inspection chapter for tattoo or piercing work in this code; the zoning matrix is the operative local control, while the Texas Department of State Health Services licenses the practitioner and facility statewide. A prospective operator's practical first step is confirming the parcel's zoning designation with the Planning Department before signing a lease, since a location zoned C-1 or C-2, both common on retail corridors, does not qualify by right and would require a rezoning.