Orangeburg County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

A tattoo or body-piercing business in unincorporated Orangeburg County has exactly one zoning option, the same as a pawn shop. Section 2.3, Table 1 lists "Body Piercing/Tattoo Parlors" under NAICS code 812199 and marks the use "P," permitted by right, only in the CG (Commercial General) column; every other district column, RS, RG, RO, CN, BI, FA and RC, carries an "N," not permitted. Under Section 2.2, that "P" designation still requires the business to comply fully with all applicable development standards of the Ordinance once sited in CG, including Table 1's parking requirement of one space per 350 square feet of gross floor area, the same ratio the table sets for beauty and barber shops under Personal Care Services (NAICS 8121).

Table 1 groups tattoo and piercing parlors under Sector 81, "Other Services," alongside funeral homes, laundries and photo-finishing businesses, none of which the table treats as a sexually oriented business; that separate category, defined at NAICS 81299, carries its own conditional-use standard under Section 3.10 and is not the standard that governs a tattoo studio. Before opening, the business still needs a Certificate of Zoning Compliance from the Zoning Administrator under Section 9.10 confirming the CG location and use match Table 1 and the Ordinance's other development standards, before a building permit or certificate of occupancy will issue.