Rock Hill, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

The Zoning Ordinance defines a tattoo parlor as an establishment whose principal business is placing designs, letters or other marks under the skin using ink and needles or similar instruments, and separately defines a body piercing establishment as a non-medical business that pierces skin to insert jewelry or other objects; both fall under Personal Services (Type B) in Appendix 4-A, alongside psychics and mediums. 14(G) imposes three standards on every Type B use wherever the Table of Primary Uses allows it. First, a 1,000-foot separation, measured lot line to lot line, from existing residential uses, undeveloped residential zoning districts, religious institutions, day cares and preschools, elementary through senior-high schools, and public parks.

Second, a Type B business cannot engage in any other business or service on the same premises, including retail sales of goods, so a shop cannot combine tattooing with a gift shop or jewelry counter. Third, the establishment cannot display any signage visible from outside the premises that illustrates the services offered, meaning window displays or exterior signs depicting tattoo designs or piercing services are prohibited even where the business itself is zoned in. Because the 1,000-foot buffer runs from so many protected uses at once, it eliminates most commercially zoned parcels near Rock Hill's residential neighborhoods, schools and churches, leaving mainly isolated commercial and industrial sites available for the use.