The city Zoning Hearing Board granted a special exception Wednesday that will enable a tattoo artist to operate a home-based tattoo shop in a finished shed in the yard of his house on the 700 block of East Caroline Avenue, which is in a residential neighborhood.

Kurtis Hamilton has worked as a part-time tattoo artist in shops owned by others for 20 years, while helping support himself with other jobs, but as he approaches the age of 40, he wanted to begin the tattoo work full time in his own shop, he told the board.

His proposed home business fell into the “major-impact” category, and as such needed to meet several criteria to qualify for a special exception, according to the city’s zoning ordinance.

Thus, it must not alter the appearance of the house or accessory buildings; must be operated by the homeowner or his immediate family; must not involve more than one non-family member; must be screened so that it can’t be detected from outside the property; and must not create a noticeable increase in traffic.

Hamilton plans to see one client at a time, by appointment only, working largely in the middle of the day, he said.

His property has plenty of off-street parking, and the yard in which the shed is located is surrounded by a fence that screens the shed from view, he told the board.

That will be a “private” setting — the kind that most tattoo clients nowadays prefer, Hamilton said.

“It won’t be a bunch of bikers standing in front of a burning barrel with neon lights,” Hamilton said. “No one would ever know it’s going on back there.”

He’s already spoken to the neighbors, and they have no objections to his plans, he said.

He will be the only employee, he told the board.

While the studio would not be in Hamilton’s house, its presence on the home property should allow the request for a special exception to be considered in connection with the zoning ordinance’s home-based business provisions, based on an expansive interpretation of law, according to board solicitor Bill Stokan.

The city is not opposed to the special exception request, said City Manager Christopher McGuire.

“I just want to work legally and not have to work in (someone else’s) shop somewhere,” Hamilton said. “This means the world to me.”