By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

After much discussion on the county and city level of ordinances allowing tattoo parlors in the communities, the first has been approved for Pontiac.

Mayor Bob Russell said after much discussion and debate, from both council members and the public, the council decided to approve the parlor.

“They met all their requirements. Although maybe our personal preferences weren’t to have one, if they met our ordinances and went through all the steps and got Planning Commission approval, then it probably should be approved, and in fact, it was. We’ve talked about this for years. They’re going to be located in what used to be Kim’s Floral. We do have an ordinance that says anything within one block around the main square court house, you can’t have a service oriented business like that. It has to be retail, professional, whatever. They’re outside of that zone, so they were awarded that permit. I expect to see activity there very shortly,” Russell said.

The full forum with Russell is available in the podcast at WJEZ.com.