Art Festival Officials May Sue Over Lease

The president of the prestigious Festival of Arts on Sunday said the group is considering suing Laguna Beach for more favorable lease conditions.

The nonprofit plans to announce its next move today in what has been a contentious, three-year-long lease negotiation with city officials. Laguna Beach, which has a 67-year relationship with the internationally known festival, offered the group a small lease reduction last week.

The city says the rent will go to a fund to maintain the festival property and support other nonprofits in the city. The current lease expires in September 2001.

“This will be our public answer to their offer,” said Festival of Art’s President Sherri Butterfield, the mayor of Mission Viejo.

At issue is the nearly $600,000 in rent the nonprofit organizers must pay, a fee the organizers argue is grossly unfair. Last week, city officials offered to drop the rent from 13.75% of the festival’s gross income to 13.5% and retain control of where the bulk of that money is spent.

This year that worked out to $585,184, Butterfield said. The festival also provided $18,200 worth of prime tickets to the city as part of the deal, she said. The proposed reduction would not amount to much, she added.

“That works out to be a reduction of $11,000 on more than a half a million. Is that a bargain?” Butterfield said.

Butterfield says the festival would prefer to pay the $65,000 in rent and keep the rest.

She says the festival already does all its own maintenance, including hiring gardeners and repairing buildings on the grounds.