A Columbia businessman’s plans to have a mobile barbershop have been squashed by state regulations.
The Mississippi Board of Barbering and Cosmetology won’t allow Steve McGill to run his barbershop, Phenomenon, in a trailer that moves from spot to spot, according to information provided to the city.
McGill, who has been cutting hair in Columbia for nearly three decades, had presented the plan to aldermen Feb. 6. He had his barbershop on C Street torn down recently and was hoping to move the business into a mobile home, which includes a gravity toilet and two holding tanks, to reduce operating costs.
McGill and the Board thought a zoning ordinance was what stood in the way of him being able to open the mobile business, but it turns out it was the state rules.
“The information provided to Mr. (Lawrence) Hahn (city attorney) strictly defines that you cannot have a mobile barber unit in the state of Mississippi,” Mayor Justin McKenzie told the Board during the Feb. 20 meeting. “It has to be set up on city sewer if there is sewer provided. It has to have pressurized water, not just a tank. There are multiple reasons for this, according to the state board.”
Building Inspector Lonnie Stringer had also checked into the regulations.
“They told him that if it did open, they needed to know,” he said. “What I read is that there is no way he can have it.”
Hahn said if there is a public sewer available, you have to be hooked up to it but that McGill was not planning on using city water or sewer. Without McGill able to get a state license to do that, Hahn said there is nothing for the city to even discuss as far as zoning.
Stringer said he had notified McGill and told him he had to contact the barber board.
The idea, however, brought up discussions of the city’s current ordinances in regard to mobile businesses like food trucks. Aldermen said they are still reviewing options for that, and the topic may come up at future meetings.
The Columbia Board of Aldermen next meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall in regular session.
