The president of the Sheffield Homeowners Association along with the organization of homeowners’ associations known as JXN United plan to continue opposing additional vape shops, tattoo studios and liquor stores in the city of Jackson.
That’s the position of Ashley Ogden, president of the Sheffield Homeowners Association, after the Jackson City Council paved the way for a tattoo artist to open a studio at The Junction shopping center.
The city council followed the recommendation of the Jackson Planning Board, which advised that John Craig should receive a conditional use permit to operate his tattoo studio at the center. The Junction is the location of Target, The Home Depot, PetSmart and other retailers.
“The Sheffield Homeowners Association and JXN United opposed the use permit as it did not meet our long-term goal of reestablishing Jackson as a family-friendly city,” Ogden said. “Unfortunately, the city planning board and the city council wanted to provide this particular use permit based on promises made by the applicant to be a different type of tattoo store and the applicant’s promise to change the negative perception of this type of store.”
Ogden went on to say that he welcomes Craig to join with the Sheffield Homeowners Association and JXN United in the “fight to save Jackson’s property values and restore our city to a family-friendly community.”
Craig, a tattoo artist for 15 years, said he plans to open his studio by mid-June. The interior build-out of the space must be completed and inspections by the Mississippi State Health Department and safety and fire inspections remain to be done, he said.
Craig received the same kind of permit that Electric Dagger, a tattoo studio located in the heart of Fondren in the Fondren Corner Building in Jackson, has. The permit must be renewed annually.
Craig, age 38, a Jackson resident, and his fiancé, Dr. Lynn Nguyen, a dentist at Terrance Family Dental, co-own the tattoo studio named Profane Studio. Nguyen is not involved in the business other than to help with interior décor, he said.
In Mississippi, an individual must be at least 18 years old to get a tattoo.
Booked three- to four-weeks in advance, Craig said his business is good. He works eight hours a day creating tattoos.
“Prior to this, I ran my business working in someone’s studio,” he said. “I’m just switching locations and trying to serve the same people.”
Children sometimes tag along with a parent who is getting a tattoo, said Craig, who ensures the child has a comfortable place to sit while he works. Many of the children play video games while they wait, he said.
Angelique C. Lee, who represents Ward 2 on the city council, supported Craig’s application for a conditional use permit. The use permit must be re-applied for in a year, she said.
Lee, whose ward includes The Junction, pointed out that a tattoo studio is located in a strip center at the corner of Beasley Road and the I-55 Frontage Road and also in the Fondren Corner building in the center of the Fondren neighborhood.
Craig is an educated professional and entrepreneur who wants to invest in her Ward, said Lee, who met with him about his plans.
The Junction already has a CBD shop and a liquor store as tenants, Lee said, and the space Craig wants to occupy is vacant. “Right now, that space is an empty parcel generating no tax revenue,” she said.
