Mayor’s Office of Economic Development representative Richard Hillis, speaking at an Arts Task Force meeting last Wednesday, announced his support for a city-wide Arts Development Fee (ADF). The fee, which would apply to new housing developments across the city, would go towards both capital improvements and operating expenses for a wide variety of arts uses. The support of the Mayor’s office for the idea injects a new element in the battle over Rincon Hill, where pending community benefit programs do not include funding for the arts.
Hillis’ announcement came as a battle rages over a redevelopment plan in Rincon Hill. The Board of Supervisors hopes to dramatically increase development fees to go towards offsetting the displacement of poor and working class San Franciscans caused by upscale condo towers being built in the South of Market. While the Mayor’s office’s support of yet another development fee could rankle developers, it would prove a major boon for the city’s arts community.
The surprise endorsement of the idea came during the presentation of two different proposals for a Mid-Market Arts and Entertainment District to the Arts Task Force. The original plan, which includes putting the area under the purview of the Redevelopment Agency, was seen by many as neglecting the arts. Exit Theatre’s Richard Livingston, who sits on the Mid-Market Project Area Committee, voted against Redevelopment’s plan, for example.
An alternative plan to Redevelopment’s proposal would force developers to give money to an arts fund as a condition of development. In a surprising move, Hillis claimed the Mayor’s office would be happy to include this fee into Redevelopment’s Mid-Market plan – in fact, he said, a city-wide ADF would be a good idea.
Members of the task force responded favorably to Hillis’s proposal, and for good reason. A city-wide fee would rake in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars for arts uses in the city. The money could be used not only to build new arts spaces, but to fund the operating costs of arts organizations as well. And finally, the choice as to how the money would be allocated would be up to the artists themselves, not a city agency.
Now, it’s a matter of the Mayor’s office following through on its words to make this happen. Enacting a city-wide ADF would not be a difficult tax logistically – a similar fee for transportation already exists, and could serve as the template for an arts fee.
Rincon Hill developers, the South of Market Community impacted by Rincon development, artists city-wide, and Mid-Market residents will be anxiously waiting to see if any concrete action comes form the Mayor’s office.
