On Monday, the Department of Health and Environmental Control revoked the license of 5 Jesters Custom Tattoo parlor in Atlantic Beach following a NewsChannel 15 investigation.

Regulators pulled the license because the tattoo parlor was too close to a public playground. According to South Carolina law, tattoo parlors must be at least 1,000 feet from playgrounds.

DHEC originally granted the license on March 17th after receiving a letter dated March 3rd by Town Manager Kenneth McIver who claimed the town had "condemned" the playground, that it was not in use, and that the town had no plans to reopen the park.

After NewsChannel 15 discovered the park was still open, DHEC revoked the license on March 30th.

So NewsChannel 15 began asking why the town would provide false information about the park, and the reasons were clear: the town was facing a lawsuit from Excitement Video. Excitement Video's owner Brian White owns the building where 5 Jesters Tattoos is located.

Here's a timeline:

2003 - Excitement Video files suit against Atlantic Beach and claims unfair tax assessments.

October 9, 2008 - Motion to compel Atlantic Beach to comply with a settlement agreement that was reached between the two parties. One of the terms was that Atlantic Beach would issue Excitement Video a business license to open a tattoo parlor. However, according to court documents, Atlantic Beach failed to comply.

January 21, 2009 - Excitement Video's lawyer, Jill Fennel, asks for the trial to be put back on the docket for a jury trial which is scheduled to begin in early March 2009. But instead of going to trial, Town Manager Kenneth McIver says he was advised by the town's new attorney, Stephen Benjamin, to settle and issue that business license to 5 Jesters.

February 27, 2009 - Atlantic Beach issued business license to 5 Jesters Custom Tattoo. 5 Jesters rents the space from Excitement Video which had been seeking a tattoo parlor for the other half of its building.

March 2, 2009 - Town Council passes an emergency zoning ordinance that allows the Excitement Video building to be zoned for a tattoo parlor. But even with the new zoning ordinance and a business license from Atlantic Beach, 5 Jesters still had a problem: DHEC would not approve them because there was a public playground only 528 feet away from the building. State law requires any facility to be at least 1,000 feet away.

March 3, 2009 - Town Manager Kenneth McIver sends a letter to Excitement Video that reads:

"Let this letter serve as official notice that the public park located at 1006-32nd Avenue South, Atlantic Beach, SC inspected by DHEC on December 17, 2008 was condemned and is not in use by order of the town of Atlantic Beach. At this time, the Town does not intend to reopen the park and it remains condemned and not in use."

March 17, 2009 - After receiving a copy of McIver's letter, DHEC approved 5 Jesters Custom Tattoo to open.

March 30, 2009 - DHEC pulls the license after the NewsChannel 15 investigation revealed the playground was still in use.

When asked if he had knowledge that it was against state law for tattoo parlors to be within 1,000 feet of a playground, McIver said yes.

Residents who live near the playground, like Dustin Beers, called the letter "shady."

Beers' neighbor, Takela Bellamy, said she was never told to keep her kids off the playground.

"My kids are pretty much over here to the playground everyday," Bellamy added.

Beers didn't just take his kids to play at the park, but he also worked there as part of his community service for the town. He has to perform eight hours a month since he lives in low-income housing.

"I told them I'd rake it, mow it, fix the swings, fix the whatever else, do some painting, and they said it all sounds good," Beers said.

McIver said he knew Beers was working there during the time the letter was written.

McIver said the park was condemned only for a day -- sometime in early January.

But his March 3rd letter said it was still condemned and not in use, and when asked about the discrepancies, McIver responded, "There are a few things I need to get with the town attorney."

The town attorney is Stephen Benjamin of McAngus, Goudelock & Courie Law Firm in Columbia, and McIver said Benjamin assured him that writing the letter had legal precedence.

When asked for an interview, Benjamin said that would be fine, but when we showed up to Columbia, Benjamin wasn't at his office and never returned calls.

In an email on Monday, he wrote he regretted that he couldn't talk, but that he felt by doing so, he would compromise the town's position.

Town Mayor Retha Pierce and Councilman Donnell Thompson have both said they had no knowledge of Benjamin's direction to McIver to write the letter. Thompson added the issue would be discussed at the next council meeting on April 6th.

Meanwhile, 5 Jesters Custom Tattoo is without a license, but has until April 13 to appeal to the South Carolina Board of Health. If they do, a hearing will be scheduled where the decision would be confirmed or revoked.

To see Part 1 of this story, click the link below.