Menlo Park council set to vote on repealing art law Menlo Park council set to vote on repealing art law (October 27, 2004)

By Rebecca Wallace
Almanac Staff Writer

A painting can resonate with an art connoisseur centuries after it's created. Menlo Park's two-year-old public art law, though, may prove more ephemeral.

To the dismay of many art lovers and the delight of many business owners, the law is up on the block on Tuesday, October 26, when the City Council is expected to decide whether to repeal it.

The council has already cast a vote against the law. On August 31, council members Lee Duboc, Mickie Winkler and Paul Collacchi voted to have staff draft an ordinance to rescind it. Ms. Winkler said the law places an unfair tax burden on business owners, while Mr. Collacchi said it's an improper way to mitigate the effects of construction. They asked city staff to look into another way to fund public art in the city.

The law requires owners of newly built commercial, municipal and industrial buildings with construction costs of $250,000 or more -- and some remodels -- to pay 1 percent of those costs to install a work of art on their site.

After the August vote, the entire seven-member Arts Commission resigned in protest, with commissioners saying they had already worked for years to construct the law.

On October 26, the council may also decide to relieve the project applicants who have fallen under the law from the remaining requirements that apply to them.

For example, Menlo Chevron owner John Conway, who vehemently opposes the law, has had a plan for a colorful mural approved at his rebuilt service station but has not installed it. City staff members are recommending that the city return his $3,593 art fee and not make him install art if the law is repealed.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 801 Laurel St.

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