The proposal would requires commercial developers to fund arts in some form for the city of Malibu. In other matters, fish out of water in city.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
For the second time in a little more than a month, City Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich is proposing a self-written law for the city. Ulich is asking her colleagues on the Malibu City Council to consider at its meeting on Monday whether to pursue an ordinance that would require commercial developers either to pay for public art on their private property or financially support the city’s arts program.
Conley Ulich’s proposal would only affect commercial construction or reconstruction projects costing more than $1 million. Those meeting that criteria would be required to install public artwork on the private property at a cost of 1 percent of the total construction cost of the project or a maximum price established by the city. Project applicants could also satisfy the ordinance by donating a piece of public art to the city or by paying 1 percent of the construction costs to the city’s Arts and Culture Fund.
“The ordinance will promote placing aesthetically pleasing artwork in and around commercial developments and can help to foster the city’s goal of maintaining beauty and promoting culture and an aesthetically pleasing and visually stimulating environment in Malibu,” Conley Ulich wrote in the proposal.
The artwork installed on the private property would need to be created by an artist “accepted and recognized in the field of art locally, regionally, nationally or internationally as evidenced by art journals, art books or art gallery reputation.” Members of architectural, engineering, design or landscaping firms would not qualify as artists under the ordinance. A Public Arts and Culture Commission would be created to determine whether an applicant’s art proposal met the requirements of the law.
The council will not be voting on whether to approve Conley Ulich’s proposal on Monday. Rather, it will be deciding whether to direct staff to finalize the ordinance, and present revised language for a vote at a future meeting.
Last month, Conley Ulich proposed an ordinance that would prohibit large retail chain stores from opening in most parts of Malibu. The concept did not receive an enthusiastic response from her colleagues, with the council members expressing various levels of distaste for the idea. Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Jennings was the most vocally opposed to it, saying, “I was having a hard time finding what the goal is.” The draft ordinance was sent to a council subcommittee consisting of Jennings and Conley Ulich for further review.
City Hall fish getting
the boot
Also on Monday, the council will discuss the fate of the tropical saltwater fish living in a 500-gallon tank at City Hall. The council last month asked city staff to come up with a solution to rid the city of the $528-per-month cost of maintaining the tank. The staff is recommending, according to its council meeting report, that the fish be donated to Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School or to the vendor currently paid to maintain them.
The council had suggested last month that Malibu High School biology students could maintain the tank, and then the fish could stay at City Hall. But according to the staff report, Malibu High biology teacher Robert Perry said his students could not do this because they were not trained or qualified to care for the fish. He also said the fish could not be placed in the aquarium at Malibu High because their facility cannot accommodate tropical saltwater fish.
If the tank were removed, it would leave a space in City Hall that would need to be replaced with a wall. The staff report said a portion of the money saved by no longer maintaining the fish could be used to pay for the wall’s construction.
Also at the meeting, the council will consider whether to approve the creation of a community facilities district at Carbon Beach for the residents there to pay for the undergrounding of their utilities. Additionally, the council will hear an appeal of a Planning Commission approval for a subdivision of a Malibu Bay Co.-owned property in West Malibu.