HANCEVILLE — Hanceville city leaders may be close to inking new rules that accommodate tattoo services, after the city council agreed to set a public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would outline a place for the specialty businesses in Hanceville’s municipal code.

At its regular Thursday, July 25, meeting, the Hanceville City Council reviewed a draft of the proposed ordinance and suggested further refinements — such as including language that would define the hours of operation for tattoo shops in the city — before agreeing to hold a public hearing on the ordinance at the 5:30 p.m. start of the council’s Sept. 12, regular meeting.

Because the ordinance was not in its final draft state on Thursday, the council did not take up the matter of moving to adopt it at this week’s meeting. In addition to considering the ordinance, the council also must tweak the city’s existing zoning laws to include tattoo shops. Currently, the businesses aren’t mentioned in Hanceville’s zoning code, an exclusion that, unless altered, legally prevents tattoo services from holding a business license inside the city.

Local tattoo artist Kourtney Quick approached the council requesting action on the ordinance in May, after striking an agreement with a Hanceville property owner to house a tattoo shop in a vacant downtown business space. Quick also spearheaded a residents’ petition to have the city’s zoning rules changed to accommodate businesses like the one she hopes to open, and subsequently received a favorable recommendation from the city planning commission.

Should the council agree to change its zoning rules and adopt the ordinance, it could do so as soon as Sept. 12, following the related public hearing and, afterward, the ordinance’s first reading.