On July 23, 2019, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to enact the Private Developer Arts Fee Ordinance. A key amendment was added by Supervisors Barger and Hahn to delay implementation of the ordinance on residential development for at least 60 days. A full analysis on the impacts of these fees and associated costs of hiring an artist to work on incorporating art into the design of the projects will be completed during this 60 day period.
With future County ordinances on Inclusionary Zoning and Residential Development on Compact Lot Subdivisions, this new fee may impact the rate of increasing multi-family, mixed use and single-family residential development in the County in the middle of our housing crisis. We want to thank Supervisors Barger and Hahn for the amendment and Supervisor Solis for accepting the amendment to the Arts Fee.
Supervisor Barger provided food for thought to the Board with the following comments; “The cost of building a unit of housing is over $400,000 and steadily rising. The amount the average County resident must make in order to afford a home in LA County is now $126,000 each year, while our average annual wage of LA County residents in 2017 is only $64,000. We must take a careful look at what we need to do in LA County to increase housing production to help deliver on our share of Governor Newsom’s goal of providing 3.5 million units of housing by 2025 and studying this in the context of this new fee will help us do that”
CLICK HERE to download the amendment by Supervisors Barger and Hahn
CLICK HERE to download the LA County staff report and Private Developer Arts Fee ordinance language
This new 1% fee will be implemented within 30 days of the adoption of the ordinance and will apply to commercial, industrial and revitalization projects in Unincorporated LA County with a valuation of $750,000 or more, There will be an annual increase to the minimum valuation threshold that will be adjusted annually to the Consumer Price Index every March.
On August 2017, BizFed took an oppose position to this fee. However our advocacy incorporated the following adjustments to the ordinance;
- Increased the minimum valuation from the originally proposed at $500,000 to $750,000 with annual adjustment per the Consumer Price Index starting in March 2020.
- Removed the requirement for developers to hire an art consultant as part of their development.
- Ensured that 100% of funds paid into the Civic Art Fund will go to delivering art projects, and not to operate the newly created County Department of Arts and Culture. The original proposal considered a range of 15-25% of funds from the fee to go towards the administration of the Civic Art Fund program with remaining funds undisclosed to the department.
- Enabled broader flexibility for the type of art that developers can choose from in lieu of the fee to address First Amendment issues originally proposed in the ordinance.
BizFed wants to thank the following members who actively participated in this process over the last few months by writing letters and testifying; Diana Coronado, Building Industry Association-LA/Ventura Chapter, Elizabeth DeCarteret, Southland Association of Realtors, Armando Flores & Elizabeth Hawley, VICA, Peter Herzog, NAIOP, Olivia Lee, LA Area Chamber of Commerce, John Musella, Santa Clarita Chamber, Laura Olhasso, Pasadena-Foothill, Burbank, Glendale and Arcadia Association of Realtors, Danielle Peretz, Apartment Association of Greater LA, Fred Sutton, California Apartment Association and Aaron Taxy, BOMA.
Thank you and remember that #BusinessMakesLAWork!
