To the Cotati City Planning Commitee,
My name is Evan Wilson. I am a husband and father of two young girls, 1 and 4 years old. I am a muralist, fine artist, tattooer, and owner of Redtail Tattoo Studio and Gallery, Cotati’s only tattoo shop. In April 2023, after Donnie Irish closed Cotati Tattoo during the pandemic, my family and I decided to take on the task of updating and renovating the space to meet a more contemporary expectation of what the experience of tattooing and art could be. This was not because we loved the building, loved the location, or loved the thought of spending nearly $20,000 fixing and updating the space, but because we love tattooing and what it has brought our family, and believe in the importance of art and culture in the community we are raising our family in. Our humble little space located in the Cotati Crossroads complex between Ole Times Barbershop and the Jelly Donut is the only storefront in Cotati that could be legally tattooed in.
This is due to the zoning law that was passed in the 90’s that categorizes tattooing as ‘blight,’ which feels as outdated as the Satanic Panic and sub-prime mortgage loans.
We actually turned down the opportunity to lease our current space several times because of the size and necessary remodeling that was required to bring the space up to code. But, after the Shami Realty group offered us free rent for a couple of months to fix the place up, we decided to take a risk and go for it. I quite literally poured my blood and sweat into that space, doing nearly all the work myself between tattooing appointments in Sebastopol and picking my child up from daycare, and then returning after putting her to bed to work late into the night. I am still paying off the debt I accrued during that period, but feel like the financial burden has been far-outweighed by the freedom and sense of community the space has given us. We highly encourage any of our community leadership to come by the shop and see what we have built.
So, why am I advocating for unrestricted access to opening tattoo shops in Cotati? Common sense would say that I am foolish for rocking the boat and wanting to open up the opportunity for competition, and that having the only shop in Cotati is great for business. But, money is not the reason I tattoo and make art. I do it because it is who I am in the world, and I want to share the magic of art and tattooing with my community. Also, our current space can barely fit three tattooers with less than comfortable amounts of space per artist, and we are already feeling like we are outgrowing the space after 2 years of being open.
For our business to stay in Cotati for the long term, changing this zoning law is imperative.
Although our bills for the shop are paid every month and our lives are as comfortable as anyone’s during this current economic downturn, I have no desire to continue being “that one shop in Cotati” that is considered an afterthought to tattooing in Sonoma County. My friends and peers in Petaluma, Sebastopol, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa have all been able to secure beautiful, spacious accommodations to open tattoo spaces that not only meet the tattoo needs of their community, but also act as cultural hubs for their community, hosting art events, nonprofit benefits, and daily doses of tattoo magic that transform people from the outside in. Even Occidental has a tattoo shop on its main strip, while tattooing in Cotati stays quietly on the outskirts in a less than 700 square foot hallway of a storefront, sharing a door and AC unit with the barbershop next door.
If this zoning law were changed, and we were able to move to a more prominent and spacious accommodation, we could fully realize the potential of our endeavors. We want to bring business, art and culture to our Cotati community, and we think we could attract all of that and more. Both tattooing as an industry as well as society’s acceptance of tattoos has changed dramatically since the 90s, and tattooing is now considered a viable career for more than just the ‘sailors and criminals’ it was reserved for when I first started tattooing over 15 years ago. I know for a fact that members of our community leadership have tattoos. I regularly talk to young people who want to tattoo as their career. If tattooing were allowed to thrive in Cotati, I believe it could truly bring a myriad of benefits to the community at large.
We want to make sure that our community has a space where they feel comfortable and respected when their bodies are being decorated. We want to provide a space where anyone over the age of 18 can have access to tattooing at the highest level of cleanliness, technique and artistry. We want to expand our gallery so that we can continue to host new, thoughtprovoking art shows that inspire and support local artists and non-profits. We want to foster creative outlets so that when our daughters get older, they might think of the amazing artistic experiences they had in Cotati and use them to inspire their futures.
Hopefully you all agree that these benefits to our community far outweigh any fear of ‘blight’ brought by this art form which has existed for longer than written history, and that we love for its magic, and for what it has provided for our family and community.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Evan Wilson and the Redtail Tattoo Family
8573 Gravenstein Hwy, Cotati, CA