The recommendation to develop a Public Art in Private Development Ordinance initially came forward as part of the Board motion for the LA County Cultural Equity and Inclusion Initiative (CEII) Report. The intention for the recommendation is to provide new cultural opportunities and funds particularly for residents of unincorporated areas of the County by extending LA County’s civic art requirement to private developers and enacting ordinances that encourage the creation of cultural assets. The Public Art in Private Development ordinance would allocate a 1% fee on new eligible private development projects in unincorporated areas of the County to fund public art, cultural facilities, conservation, and artistic and cultural services and programs within the project’s site area.

The purpose of the ordinance is to expand LA County’s artistic and cultural resources, enhance quality of life, and support the arts professionals who have a positive impact on our local creative economy. While there are similar ordinances in various cities in California, this would be the first Public Art in Private Development ordinance for the County of Los Angeles and its unincorporated communities.

• Fall 2018: Arts and Culture Civic Art staff worked with Regional Planning and County Counsel to draft the ordinance, which proposes a 1% fee on new commercial, industrial, and residential private development projects with a building valuation of $750,000 or greater to fund public art.
• July 2019: The LA County Board of Supervisors considered the Public Art in Private Development Ordinance. At the meeting, the Supervisors indicated their intent to approve the Ordinance as it relates to non-residential development in unincorporated areas, while deferring a vote on whether or not to extend that fee to residential development projects pending a report back from the Department of Arts and Culture, and other relevant departments.
• September 2019: Arts and Culture and the LA County Department of Regional planning submitted a report back to the Board of Supervisors about PAPD.
• February 4, 2020: The Public Art in Private Development ordinance vote is postponed.
• September 15, 2021: The Public Art in Private Development Ordinance passes! The new ordinance will allocate 1% from the building valuation of eligible private sector commercial, industrial, and residential projects, excluding affordable housing, in unincorporated areas of the County to fund public art, cultural facilities, conservation, artistic and cultural services, and programs within the project’s site area.