Council May Require Art at New Projects

The City Council may finally implement a 9-year-old ordinance requiring developers to use 1% of their projects’ funding for public art.

The council at its meeting Wednesday night will consider a resolution that would set a fee structure and guidelines for its 1989 Arts in Public Places ordinance.

The ordinance has not been carried out because no projects have met size requirements. The ordinance covers new projects, major remodelings or residential subdivisions with more than 40 lots.

Mayor Denis Weber said that the art program is a priority for him and that he believes it will be for the full council now that at least four potential developments meet the criteria.

Weber said the program has gained the support of developers of two projects the city is considering, Riverwalk Promenade and Creekside Village--also known as Creekside Center--as well as from two others that may soon file for permits.

“If you drive around the city now, there is nothing here that has any special feeling about it,” Weber said Monday. “I think this would heighten the look of centers and give them a much more inviting and warm feeling with some art.”

The guidelines proposed by the planning department staff would ask developers to spend a minimum of 1% of a project’s cost to commission artwork or to deposit an amount equal to 1.25% of the project’s value in an account to be used by the city to install artwork it chooses.

The city would also require that the artwork be visible from a public street, proportional to the scale of the project and integral to the development’s landscaping. Agoura Hills is one of more than 80 cities in California with public art programs.

Neighboring Calabasas has two pieces of public art in place, with two more on the way.