Public art.
The Downtown Metropolitan Activity Core Center (AC-3A) is the zoning district with
the highest maximum density and intensity under the City's Land Development Code.
Density and intensity bonuses are appropriate and available in the AC-3A district,
but given the high densities and intensities already available without a bonus, special
consideration must be given to the impact of a bonus in this district. Projects receiving
a density or intensity bonus in the AC-3A district will be among the densest and most
intense developments in the City and such density and intensity may present unique
aesthetic impacts to the public realm and will also contribute uniquely to the demand
for public goods and services, including goods such as public art. The Council hereby
finds that art in public places is a public good that not only contributes to the
overall quality of life in the City Beautiful, but can also help mitigate some of
the visual, aesthetic, and social impacts of dense urban environments. The need for
public art increases as an area becomes more populated. Density and intensity bonuses
therefore contribute to the need for more public art. Therefore, projects receiving
a density or intensity bonus (or both) in the AC-3A district must provide public art
that fairly and proportionally mitigates the project's impact on the public realm,
including the extent to which it generates new demand for public art. For purposes
of this part, public art means art in any physical and lasting media that has been
planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the public realm, accessible
to all. Typical examples include sculptures, statues, and murals. Because the purpose
of this part is to mitigate the public impacts of the bonus, public art required by
this part must be installed and maintained in a public area of the project site itself,
or within close proximity to the site. The size, amount, location, and other quantitative
and qualitative features of the public art are subject to review and approval as part
of the master plan or planned development zoning application, but the reasonable costs
associated with providing the public art must be roughly proportionate to the impacts
of the bonus. In general terms this means that the greater the bonus, the greater
the amount of public art that is required. Public art installed pursuant to this part
must be maintained by the property owner or owners of the subject development unless
appropriate maintenance obligations are accepted by the City
(a)
Payment in lieu of installation.
In lieu of the actual installation of public art pursuant to this section, an applicant
may satisfy the public art requirement of this section by making a cash contribution
to the City which contribution shall be reasonably calculated to compensate the City
for providing public art that is fairly proportional to the impacts of the bonus.
Proceeds from such a contribution must be spent by the City within a reasonable amount
of time on public art in close proximity to the subject site. Contributions must be
made prior to the issuance of any building permit for the proposed development. In
general terms, the greater the bonus, the greater the contribution, but in no event
may the contribution exceed 0.01% of the total construction cost of the development
for every 1% of the maximum available bonus approved for the project. For example,
a project approved for a 100% bonus (i.e., 400 units to the acre and/or 8.0 F.A.R.
in the AC-3A district) would be capped at a contribution equal to 1% of the total
construction cost of the development, while a project approved for a 1% bonus (i.e.,
202 units to the acre and/or 3.05 F.A.R. in the AC-3A district) would be capped at a contribution equal to 0.01% of
the total construction cost of the development.
