A pair of tattoo artists who were planning on coming to South Portland have decided to set up shop in Standish, where they said they feel more welcome.

Jeffrey Beaudoin said today that he and his partner had hoped to open a store in his native South Portland, but did not want to deal with a 6-month moratorium that the city is looking at adopting.

Beaudoin, who used to own a tattoo parlor in Sarasota, Fla., said the new tattoo parlor will open June 1 at 140 Ossipee Trail. The location is in a strip mall, not far from the Hannaford grocery store in town, he said.

South Portland does not have any tattoo parlors at this time. The city's planning director Tex Haeuser suggested that the city impose a moratorium on any new tattoo parlors or body-piercing studios pending the creation of regulations.

Haeuser had expressed concern in a memo to councilors that the state did not require a criminal background check on tattoo artists.

Also, "the location is at the gateway to Mill Creek, and it seemed possible that a tattoo parlor (with a big tattoo/body piercing sign) of the kind one associates with run-down areas could have a negative, blighting impact."

A discussion about the moratorium still is scheduled for Monday night, Haeuser said this afternoon.

"I think it's ridiculous that they have an idea of what tattoo business used to be and what tattoo people used to be about," Beaudoin said.