NPP Community Meeting (Conditional Use)
Introduction:
Hello my name is Michael Ransom Backus. I am a a tattoo artist and painter. I specialize in large scale Japanese, American Traditional and Geometric tattoo designs. After years of traveling to hone my craft I settled in New Orleans in 2019.
Intention:
The company, NOLA Vista Properties LLC, owns a building at 4516 Magazine Street. I, Michael Ransom Backus, am leasing that space and together we are applying for a zoning text amendment for conditional use of the space as a tattoo parlor and art gallery. The gallery will be named RōNIN TATTOO SOCIETY.
RōNIN TATTOO SOCIETY will be a space for tattoo enthusiasts to receive the best quality tattoos in safe, clean and community focused environment as well as offering a space for local artists to showcase and sell their art. It’s my intention to build a space that focuses on the experience of the client as well as the artists working within the space. I will run an equal opportunity studio and gallery open to people of any and all ethnicity or gender.
Unfortunately some studios are not following COVID safety procedures. I take my clients’ and communities’ health and safety very seriously and thus I am attempting to open my own studio, where I can be sure that my clients health and safety is looked out for to the best of my ability. The studio will be in strict compliance with all regulations set by the health department, mayor and governor. Again health and safety is my first concern.
The studio would be open daily. We would be appointment only for the foreseeable future due to our current health crisis, and would house a maximum of 4 artists (including myself), thus there would be no more than 4 clients in the studio at a time. Hours of operation would be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Sunday.
I also intend to add positively to the fabric of the neighborhood. I have a history of and will continue to raise money for charities that are close to my heart. Most recently I designed and sold shirts to raise funding for Wellspring, a not for profit group that offers counseling and advocacy to victims of sexual and domestic abuse.
The site is located in an HU-B1 Neighborhood Mixed-Use District, where a tattoo parlor is a Conditional Use, according to Article 12, Section 12.3.A.1 (Table 12-2) of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance which means we are required to apply for approval to put in a tattoo parlor. The site is a one-story commercial structure with a square footage of 500 square feet. On-street parking will be provided and no variance or waivers are required.
Our application has to be heard by the City Planning Commission and the City Council. Under normal circumstances we would hold a in person NPP meeting, but due to the pandemic, we are informing the community of our intentions via this webpage. This is required before we submit our application to the City Planning Commission.
Below you will find a layout of the space in inches, as well as a layout with my proposed layout of the studio when we are ready to open. The parlor would occupy the building at 4516 Magazine Street, with the front pedestrian entrance on Magazine Street. The site is currently empty but was formerly a haberdashery. If we receive approval, we plan to start decorating and estimate to open within a week of the approval.
Please feel free to fill out the form on the bottom of this page to sign in to this virtual meeting as well as to leave any questions or concerns you may have about this business, and I will respond. Please be aware that any comment or sign in and the accompanying response is required to be passed along to the City Planning Commission with our application. I hope to see you around the neighborhood.
Current Layout:
Proposed set up for RōNIN TATTOO SOCIETY:
Please send any comments by December 1st, 2020 so we may move forward with the zoning process.
Sincerely,
Ransom Backus
If for some reason your browser is not displaying the comment form, you can send any meeting sign ins or comments to ransom@ransombackus.com