Sugar Land, TX Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Table 2-91.1 lists 'Studio, Tattoo and/or Body Piercing' with a 'C' (Conditional Use) in the M-1 column only; the B-O, B-1, B-2, M-2 and BR columns are blank. Under Sec. 2-55.C, a 'C' designation 'designates a use that may be permitted in the district by an approved conditional use permit,' so even in the one qualifying district a tattoo or piercing studio cannot open without Planning and Zoning Commission review and approval; it has no by-right path anywhere in the city. The M-1 column also carries a Residential Proximity asterisk, so under Sec. 2-55.F a studio sited next to a single-family residential lot must address that proximity through the same conditional use permit process.

The code's definition folds in state law directly: the use is 'an establishment or facility in which tattooing and/or body piercing is performed as defined by Chapter 146 of the Texas Health and Safety Code,' the state statute that licenses tattoo studios and artists through the Texas Department of State Health Services. The table entry expressly carves out one exception: 'This does not include the tattooing of permanent makeup,' and Table 2-91.1 lists 'Permanent Makeup' as its own separate use, permitted by right ('P') in the B-O, B-1, B-2 and M-1 districts, so a cosmetic tattoo studio doing eyebrows, eyeliner or scar-concealing work is not bound by the M-1-only, conditional-use restriction that governs a general tattoo or piercing parlor. Parking for the tattoo/piercing use is set at 1 space per 200 square feet.