Riverside, CA Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

)" as an X (not allowed) across every residential zone, Residential Conservation, Residential Agricultural, Rural Residential, Residential Estate, Single-Family, and Multiple-Family, and as a P (permitted by right) across the city's Office and Commercial zones and Mixed Use zones. The use is prohibited again in industrial zones. 170 and separately define "Tattooing" as inserting pigment under the skin "by pricking with a needle or otherwise, to produce an indelible mark resulting in a design, picture or words visible through the skin," while expressly excluding work performed by a California-licensed physician and incidental permanent cosmetic procedures (permanent eyeliner, eye shadow, eyebrows, lip color) done in beauty salons/spas.

405 confirms that Riverside once had detailed, tattoo-specific operating standards, adopted by Ord. 6966 in 2007 and amended by Ord. 7158 (2012), Ord. 7331 (2016), and Ord. 7520 and Ord. 7528 (both 2020), but Ord. No. " No replacement chapter with parlor-specific standards (spacing, hours, sanitation permits) has been re-inserted into Title 19; a tattoo parlor today needs only the same permitted-use zoning clearance as any other personal-service business, plus any required business tax certificate and county health permitting.