Old Bridge, NJ Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Old Bridge Township Code § 250-42 lists uses that are prohibited throughout the Township, and § 250-42B(15) names tattooing and body piercing directly among them alongside adult entertainment, junkyards, flea markets and massage parlors. Section 250-42A makes clear this is an absolute zoning-wide ban, not a location restriction: the prohibition may not be altered, modified or varied except by amending the chapter itself, and no deviation may be authorized under N.J.S.A. 40:55D-70d or § 250-9G(5), the sections that otherwise let the Zoning Board of Adjustment grant use variances.

That means a would-be tattoo studio cannot apply for a use variance to open in a commercial or industrial zone; the only way the use becomes legal in Old Bridge is for the Township Council to amend § 250-42 by ordinance. The provision was last amended March 11, 2019 by Ordinance No. 2019-05. Because the ban sits in the Land Development chapter's list of township-wide prohibited uses rather than in a licensing chapter, there is no Old Bridge business license, health permit or zoning permit that can legalize a tattoo or body-piercing business anywhere within Township limits, in contrast to municipalities that instead regulate such shops through health-code licensing.