Menlo Park Watch: Public art fee back on Menlo council agenda Menlo Park Watch: Public art fee back on Menlo council agenda (September 01, 2004)

Once more, the Menlo Park City Council is set to discuss how high the fee should be for allowing businesses to opt out of installing artwork under the city's public art law.

The law requires owners of newly built commercial, industrial and municipal buildings with construction costs of $250,000 or more -- and some remodels -- to pay 1 percent of construction costs to install a work of art on their site. Some owners, though, don't want to put art on their property, and the council will decide whether an in-lieu fee paid into a citywide art fund should be 1 percent of costs, 1.5 percent, or another amount.

City staff members are recommending a 1.5 percent in-lieu fee to cover city costs that the applicant would have paid, such as the costs of finding and choosing an artist.

The council had originally been scheduled to make this decision on August 17, but did not have a list of all the fees that businesses falling under the law must pay. Now staff members have provided a list.

For example, the expansion of the Longs Pharmacy at the Sharon Heights shopping center cost $800,000, which meant its owners paid $8,000 to install a mural there, community services director Curtis Brown wrote in a staff report. They also paid $18,251 in other city fees on the project for services such as obtaining a building permit.

That figure, though, does not include planning department application fees, Mr. Brown said.

Commission vacancies abound in Menlo

Residents of the city of Menlo Park have myriad opportunities to get involved in the community by serving on city commissions.

Currently, there are two vacancies on the Arts Commission, one on the Parks and Recreation Commission, one on the Bicycle Commission, two on the Housing Commission and one on the Las Pulgas Committee, which advises the council on projects in the redevelopment area on the east side of town. Some vacancies are for full four-year terms, while others fill out unexpired terms left vacant by the departure of a commission member.

Application deadlines are September 7 and 28, varying by commission. For more information, go to www.menlopark.org or call the city clerk's office at 330-6620.

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