Concerned that unsavory businesses would take root in the county's three town centers, a councilman has proposed outlawing new tattoo parlors, billiard halls and fortune tellers there.
Councilman Ed Middlebrooks said he introduced a bill to keep the town centers family-friendly. But tattoo-parlor owners say they run clean, safe operations and they are unfairly targeted.
"If he wants to clean up Glen Burnie, he can start with the (expletive) sidewalk," said Mick Michili-Beasley, co-owner of the Dragon Moon Tattoo Studio in the Glen Burnie Town Center.
For 30 years the shop has made its home in the town center on Crain Highway. It appears clean and inviting, and the business sponsors a youth baseball team each spring. It has earned a reputation among tattoo artists as a stand-up operation.
Mark "Spanky" Stewart, a piercing artist and longtime employee of Full Coverage Color in Annapolis, said Dragon Moon was among the first shops in the county to belong to the Alliance of Professional Tattooists, which requires all tattoo artists complete intense pathogen-training. Mr. Stewart added that tattoo clientele has markedly changed over time.
"You're not going to find a bunch of vagrants and drunks paying $150 an hour for a high-quality, custom tattoo," Mr. Stewart said.
Mr. Middlebrooks contends the bill, introduced late last month, is not about forcing Dragon Moon out, and the shop would be allowed to stay. Rather, the bill is about attracting other types of businesses to set up shop.
"We don't want to see the town centers deteriorate, especially in Glen Burnie," Mr. Middlebrooks said, adding the two tattoo parlors near the town center are sufficient. "I just don't want more of those businesses flourishing."
The county's three town centers in Glen Burnie, Parole, and one planned for Odenton are commercial centers meant to spur economic growth. They enjoy special zoning rules and often get government funding to upgrade or expand, but the town centers are subject to scrutiny from public committees.
The Glen Burnie Town Center, the county's oldest town center, was approved in 1980 and at times has struggled to become the vibrant business district envisioned for the 44 acres at Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard and Crain Highway.
According to county records, state and local governments injected $24 million of public funds into the project and attracted $25 million from private investors to reinvigorate the town center.
"I think the whole idea behind the legislation is to protect the integrity of the town centers, to give that family-friendly feeling," said Fran Schmidt, the executive director of the Northern Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Schmidt also serves on the Glen Burnie Town Center Advisory Committee, which reviews plans and recommends ideas for the town center.
"The idea is that we wouldn't want businesses that wouldn't promote a wholesome, family atmosphere," Ms. Schmidt said.
The bill that would outlaw tattoo parlors in town centers would also restrict pool halls, psychics, tarot card readers, palm readers and arcades. Elsewhere in the county those businesses would still be permitted in most commercial districts.
Rob Magruder, general manager of Sharky's Rock n' Sports Bar & Grille in Annapolis, argues that pool halls can be family-friendly enterprises.
"You get families in here on pool nights," Mr. Magruder said. "It just doesn't make sense."
Mr. Magruder's business is also a restaurant and sports bar and would not be affected by the legislation, which is up for public hearing on at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Arundel Center.
But he resents his type of business being proposed for restriction, saying "it's not like we're a strip club."
