The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About0236.092l ! L ~ \.~ April 30, 1992 TEE HONOF.1.BLE CIT\{ COUNCIL Palo Alto, Califcrnia At.tef'l.tion: Policy and Services Co,t'.!r,ittee PUblic A:rt CCPlrnlssior. ~J:;'.9..Q...o§ed Art in,. "P1,;._bl ic Pla.::=es Ne .. K1.J_S Study - ,lnteri rn Report~ Members of the Council: F.e.port in Bri~_J_ This is an intormationOll r-epo:-t. No Council actiC'n is required. The Policy and services committee, at t:i.1eir meeting of December J, 1991, considered the Public Art. COl."Ul';issicn's request and staff reco!Tmlendation to conduct a nexus study ·,dth respect to establishing an ordinance that -.oLlld requ ire a percent for art from private developers. The Co~roittee asked staff to research and to retuL'n to the Policy and services Cotnmittee various percent for art ordinance alternatives ""ith a recommendation from the public Art Conrmission. The Committee furt-hsr directed staff to provide the C~r~ittee wi~h a progress report on the nexus study. This report responds to the status of those requests. Discussio_D. On october 1. 1991, th..:-Public }..rt Con:rni5sion fon.'arded an Art in Publ ic Pla·::es revised dr-atc ordin~nce to CN.l(lcil .dth their re:::omo"1H;ndation to adopt the or:1inance. The revised draft ordinance responded to staff ccncerns as described in C¥~. 409:91 and proposed establishment of a requirement for private developers to provide and maintain a ;..'ork of art in proj ec'Cs exceeding 15,000 square fe~t. It alsc included a provision which ~ill regtlire funding for municipal capital projects. The direction that the Publ ie Art Commis.sion took in developing their-proposed ordinanc8 "'as b'lsed on advice they r,ave consistently received from staff ... dth respect to the limits of exacting fees from developers in accordance with Assembly Bill 1600. AE 1600 requires that~ in order to establish a fee for development, a city must conduc~ a conceptual and numerical nexus analysis that includes U·.e follo·~'ing eler.'~ents: CMR:236:92 L , : I ! I ~ , I I , I i, , t ~ ... , '" t L "--~-"- Page 'f\oto 3. 4. 5. 6. A mas~er plan of public facilities ne~ded. A needs analysis comparing the anticipated needed facilities ., .. ith the current r-3cilities. A. deficiencies analysis cDFlpa:t'ing the existing facilities .... ith the currE'ntl',i nee.ded facilities. A cieterrninatio!1 of the types of de·.'elopr:lent to -,.;hich the fee ~ill be 2pplied. A determination of the cost of the ::eeded faci 1 i ties including c:dr..lnistration and financing costs. The amour,t of tne fee based on the need for the publi<:: f2cility created. by Each type of development. The ;..urpose of such a study is to establish a :1 inkage b~t'.,;e!?:n the needed faci tities (in this case rublic art) and the de .... elopme.nt tee. At the time the Commission begdn jts exploration of mechanisms to support the concept of exacting art from private developers, there were no examples of any linkage studies regarding cultural activities. For that reason the City Attornei advised the Commissicn to recommend requi ring art as part of a private developm~nt (as opposed to a fee) and to tie the requirement ~ith the city's building pE:nnit and revie\of processes. The Co:r: .... ':lission abandoned their original concept of establishing a percent for art and, instead j developed an ordinance that required developers to provide art 'ioI'ith their development. S\jb~€quentlYI the C01nl'flission prepared a proposed ordinance ""hich added an addition'11 discretionary review to the development process. Some local developers have stated t.hat the proposed ordinance j creating another step foz then, has the potential foy inpeding 't.he p~o9ress of a development and places an unnecessary burde.n on them~ n-,ey have expressed oppositio;1 to the concept. ~When t",·o california cities produced en appropriate nexus study that allowed then'. to adopt a percent for art progr-a!'(1 in accordance ...... it.h the provisions of AS 1600. staff reconsidered its original advice and recommended to the Public Art Com~issicn that they reaSsess the approach of est3bl ishir!g a requiremeilt fer art. an.d revisit the possibility of establishing an in lieu f<2£ allc .... ance to tne city's Art in Public: Places fund account. The ?ublic .h.rt con:,rn:ission requested direction from the Pol i::y and Services Commi tt.ee tbat would allow staff to proceed ",lith the required nexus study (CMR:523:91). The committee asked staff to research and to return to the Policy and Services Co:r.::mittee: various percent for art ordinance alternatives, .. \"ith d recorf'Jtlendation from the Public Art Commission. The COIrJ'tlitte.e further directed staff t.o provide the committee with a progress report on tne nexus study. CHR: 236:92 L • ,.--- • '. [ I I ! L Page Three Alternetives The requirement that private de\F~lopers provide art as p3.rt of their development is a relatively recent notion in the history of percent for art proq~ams. The original idea ~~s that qoverr~ent aqencies include one percent fer art for construction of nev public buildin9s. cities h~ve adopted such programs. ~he City Coyncil, as ~n alternative to a percent program, adopted an Art in PUhlic Places ordinance that requires a specific amount to be allocated en an annual bas i s to the capi ta 1 Improvement budget. As 't.he government percent f Clr art mo ..... eme.nt g,,:i ned E.o'mentuIIl, and "wi i th experience. local agencies turned to the private sector vith th~ expectation that public art would enhance private. development. There are many examples of cities in California Which have adoptea percent for art requir~me~ts irom private developers. This report will cite three alternatives to the method proposed by the Public Art: Commisslon~ 1. Incentive Progra~ The city of Mountain View uses tha development review process and zoning wPrecise Plan~, which stipulates the conditions and goals of a specific zone, to encourage developers to include publicly visible art as part of their development. (In limited cases, the Precise Plan may require art as part of the overall design scheme for the areal ~ The Precise Plan is prepared by the Planning Department staff. reViewed by the Planning Commission and approved by the City Council. Once adopted, specific projects are usually reviewed and approved br professional planning and design staff 'Without further revieW' by the Planning commission or the City council. In accordance with the Pr~cise Plan, the Planning staff may offer a developer the incentive of increasing the FAR from .30 to .32, in exchange for ex~eptional design that includes landscaping and architecture as ~ell as public art. In the case of public art, the art 'Work is selected by the developer and reviewed by Planning Department staff as part of the development negotiation. The Mountain v.iew Visual Arts Committee does not review ~r approve any private sector art. It is worth noting that the City of Mountain vie.\,{ dedicates funding equal to one percent of all municipal capital improvement proje~ts that exceed $1 million. In addition, Mountain View allocates $100,000 annually for Art in Public PlacBs, although funding has not been appropriated for the last several years. The City of Mountain View is presently utilizing existing funds trom the fiscal year 1969 allocation to complete a project. C)!R:Zl6:92 " ) .-.1 , ~ f- f t l L Page Four .2. N':!qQ~-,'L£.t:~ The city of Walnut Creek adopted a program in 1932 that requires their Design Review Comm.!ssi·:u"!. to include an appr-opriate response t.o P"...tblic Art as one of the elemc!1ts considered for public and private development projects ir~ Walnut Creek's downto'Wr'. core area, Walnut creek's ordinance sets no dollar E'xpen.jiture and does not ofter a quid pro quo, such as ~ better floor area r~tio. Instead, it offers their City Planning staff the opportunity to irlclude public art aE part of the development review process~ The Planning sta.ff and t1-~e Wal.nllt. Cree.K Design commission use City Council approved design guidelines in the evaluation of propGsed projects. Public art is only one possible element to be. considered in approaching a proposed development, and it is an element that can be negotiated to enhance a proj~ct. If public art is negotiated into the project, the city's Civic ~....rts staff \lorks with the developer and his architect in recommending a public art element to their civic Arts Co~~ission for acceptance. The public art must be in place prior to occupancy. The City of Los Altos has used a voluntary approach since April 1987. Th.e Los Altos Arts Co:n:mittee, appointed by the City Co\,mcil. places ads in arts related periodicals tor the purpose of inviting sculptors to loan their work to the City of Los Altos for one to two years. The artist bears all costs including installation and removal. Artists silblrLit works to the Los Altos Arts CClOJDittee, 'Which considers them based on design craftsmanship, safety and compatibility ~ith the environment. Presently. Las Altos has 11 sculptures installed as part of its art in public places project. TWo sculptures ha-"e been purchased by citizens and donated to the city since the incepticn cf this program. Percent for Art Program Tbe Public Art conunission continues to recommend their original .approac::t, ~01/hich is to develop an ordinance that will require a percent fee from developers to be used to purchase public art. The Commission understands that a nexus study must be performed before such a fee can be adopted, and they have agreed to work with staff to produce. such a study. The. cO'ml!lission also understands that Palo Alto developers must 'Understand the rationale behind adopting a program that adds new fees to the cost of development and that such an ordinance has a better chance of approval if local developers are 'Willing to lend their support to the concept~ To that end, the commission has begun meeting with local developers to include them CMR:236:92 L r '. I -.< -'~ ~ . .:, .:.7#i ': '.',\\~~~~; L ; "'-.",,-. Paqe Five in the process~ In addition, the cOlllll'liesion is planning .several community-.ide public art forums that would introduce the topic to the broad con:.munity~ It is expected that any inp ..... t and advice received. a.s a result of the public art forums would be incorporated i~to the neKUs study. staff has just started organizing to begin wor~ on the t~chnical aspects of the study, which will take approximately one year to complete. It js anticipated that the city Attorney, Planninq Department staff and E,conomic Development staff will partic ipate with Arts and CUlture staff to collect and document the data necessary to complete the study. Respectfully submitted, ~A~~_ Lecn A. Xaplan. ~ 0' ~'':''"'' r~~~ __ -"- Paul Thiltqen " Di~ector 0hmm. unity Services //' . / . .-c"-'''''''' ~:1: ,June :rreming 'Assistant City Ma,ager '----~-' Related CHR's: 409:91, 523:91 CMR: 236: 92 L --