Campus Chronicle

Issue date: 2/24/04 Section: Features

Media Credit: Michael Radziewicz KeithUnderwood poses outside his building, where he hopes to establish his Tattoo parlor.

Keith and Nicole Underwood have owned the building at 1150 W. Taylor Street for about a year. Keith, a licensed tattoo artist, wants to turn the first floor of their property into a tattoo studio, but first he must obtain a special-use license from the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals.

Underwood went before the zoning board Friday and will find out the status of his proposed tattoo studio this week.

The proposed tattoo shop was met with some reservation from residents and business owners in the neighborhood last fall. A development committee for the University Village Association voted unanimously to oppose the tattoo studio last July.

Underwood tried to ease any concerns residents had by holding public meetings to discuss the nature of his business. He said a tattoo studio would not attract criminal activity or decrease the value of the neighborhood.

"I think it's a good addition to the street. Nothing else here caters specifically to the college students," he said.

Underwood said he was confident the zoning board would allow his business to open. He said if the zoning board declines to grant him a special use license, he would appeal the decision.

Representatives from Che's Cafe, Hawkeye's Bar and Grill, and Atmosphere Floral and Designs, all businesses on Taylor Street, support the tattoo studio and planned to attend the hearing in front of the zoning board, Underwood said.

Currently there are no tattoo shops in the immediate UIC area.

Freshman Greg Rosenquist said a tattoo shop on Taylor Street would not directly affect him because he is not the required age of 21 to get a tattoo in Illinois. He got a tattoo from Wisconsin where the legal age is 18.

Rosenquist said tattoos are a form of self-expression, and he thinks the tattoo studio is fine for the UIC community.

"I don't see why a tattoo shop should not be here.I think people should have that opportunity," he said. c

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