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PCBA recommends adding single tattoo parlor to Prospect Crossing PUD
Summary
The PCBA voted to recommend that the City Council amend PUD O-88-36 to permit one tattoo parlor at Prospect Crossing Shopping Center; the owner agreed to a proposed 1.5% service fee on service revenues and the item will go to a June 8 council hearing.
The Prospect Heights Planning and Zoning PCBA voted May 28 to recommend that the City Council amend PUD ordinance O-88-36 to add a single tattoo parlor as a permitted use at Prospect Crossing Shopping Center, 1215–1299 North Ren Road.
Staff said the center’s PUD includes a pre-approved list of uses and that tattoo parlors were never added. The amendment would allow a single tenant to operate a tattoo studio in an approximately 5,000‑square‑foot vacant retail space without a separate special‑use application. The staff presentation noted that, for service‑oriented uses in the city’s retail corridor, the city may assess a 1.5% service fee on services; staff said the property owner agreed to collect and remit that charge.
Manny Rafidia, the property owner and applicant, said he has managed Prospect Crossing for 27 years and described tattooing as a regulated art form. “Tattoo today is an art. It’s no longer an issue that people just, you know, gang stuff,” Rafidia said, adding that the operation he had visited appeared like a clean art studio and was regularly inspected by the health department.
The proposed tenant identified himself for the record as Jeff Chuka and described the business’s planned operating procedures and hours. “Currently our hours are from noon till 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; Saturday 12 to 10, and Sundays we close at 8:00 p.m.,” Chuka said, and explained that the shop uses an ID‑scanning app and keeps copies of IDs to prevent underage tattoos.
Directors and commissioners asked about proximity to an existing tattoo business and whether competition or underage access was a concern. Staff and the applicant said police and building‑and‑zoning records for other municipalities showed no complaints for similar shops. The board voted to accept the public record and to forward a positive recommendation to the City Council; the item is scheduled for the council’s June 8 public hearing.
What happens next: The City Council will review the PCBA recommendation during its June 8 meeting; any conditions or final authorization would be set by the council.
