REPORT TO ARTS COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Approve Art in Private Development Project - Lane Partners/520 Almanor Ave.
Report
BACKGROUND
Under the City’s Art in Private Development Ordinance (SMC 19.52), the development at 520 Almanor Ave. is required to provide public art. The public art component must be equal in value to one percent of the building permit valuation. The procedure established for reviewing the artwork is as follows:
1) Review the artist’s background to ensure he/she has the experience and knowledge to design, fabricate and install large-scale artworks;
2) Review the artwork itself to determine whether the nature and style of the artwork is appropriate to the site;
3) Determine whether the proposed artwork is appropriate in scale for the overall development; and
4) Review the location of the artwork for accessibility to the public.
The purpose of this report is to request the Arts Commission review and consider approval of the proposed artwork. Under the Art in Private Development Ordinance, the Arts Commission is authorized to make a final determination of the proposed artwork and the City Council is not scheduled to consider this item. The Commission’s decision, however, may be appealed to the City Council by the developer.
EXISTING POLICY
Sunnyvale Municipal Code 19.52 - Art in Private Development
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A mitigated negative declaration (MND) was prepared for the underlying project at 520 Almanor Ave. Consistent with SMC Chapter 19.52 (Art in Private Development), art was a required component of the project and project approval was specifically conditioned upon the applicant providing visible public art at the site (condition of approval #BP-7). The Planning Commission adopted the MND and approved the project with the conditions of approval on March 6, 2017.
DISCUSSION
Project Location: This project is a 4.4-acre site located at 520 Almanor Ave. (Attachment 1 - Vicinity Map). The site is bounded by Vaqueros Avenue to the west and by Almanor Avenue to the north and east. Surrounding land uses include industrial developments to the north and west, and hotel/motels to the south and east.
Staff anticipates an increase in both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as the Peery Park area continues to expand and new developments are completed nearby.
Project Description: The project includes demolition of an existing 81,474-square foot building and the construction of a four-story office building, seven-level parking structure (with two levels underground and one at roof level) and up to 4,000 square feet of retail/commercial use. The site can be accessed from both Vaqueros Avenue and Almanor Avenue (Attachment 2 - Site Plan).
Artwork Location: The proposed location for the artwork is the parking garage facade above ground level (Attachment 2 - Site Plan). The artwork will be visible from two of the frontages to the property, Almanor Avenue and Vaqueros Avenue, as well as from the main entrance to the property and the building.
Selected Artist: The artist chosen for this project is Napa sculptor Gordon Huether (Attachment 3 - Artist’s Resume.). Mr. Huether designed two public art pieces in 2002 for the Sunnyvale Senior Center, “Tree of Life”, a water-cut steel mandala with dichroic glass located near the main entrance and “Forest”, an etched glass window in the main hallway.
Mr. Huether has artworks located throughout the Bay Area including: San Jose, San Mateo, Brentwood, Stockton, Sacramento, Napa and Dublin. Images of Mr. Huether’s artwork can be found at gordonhuether.com.
Artwork Proposal: For this project, the artist has designed an 8,840-square foot, multi-panel metal screen (Attachment 4 - Elevation Rendering). The screen will wrap around all four sides of the parking garage at the third-floor elevation. Each panel will be waterjet-cut in a repetitive pattern of Redwood trees (Attachment 5 - Design Detail Rendering), which are native to the Peery Park area. The panels will be powder coated white, which combined with the cut-out tree pattern, will result in a continuous black and white mural that stands 10 to15 feet high on the facade.
Lighting Plan: The artwork will be back lit from above, allowing the light to come through the dark areas of the screen and causing the white opaque areas to glow. Additionally, there will be ambient light on the premises.
Maintenance: The artwork can be easily maintained through periodic power washing.
FISCAL IMPACT
If approved, the developer will be responsible for design, fabrication and installation costs of the artwork, as well as ongoing maintenance. There is no fiscal impact on the City’s operating budget other than incidental staff time to monitor the project, which is budgeted in the Art in Private Development Program.
The developer anticipates the artwork budget will be equal to or greater than the Art in Private Development requirement ($257,678), however, if it is not, the developer will be required to contribute the difference to the City’s Public Art Fund. The developer is required to provide backup documents to substantiate all art expenditures.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made through posting of the Arts Commission agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board, on the City’s website, and the availability of the agenda and report in the Office of the City Clerk.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve the artwork as it is proposed.
2. Not approve the artwork as it is proposed.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1: Approve the artwork as it is proposed.
recommendation
Staff concludes that the proposal meets the criteria outlined in Sunnyvale Municipal Code, Chapter 19.52.040, standards for Art in Private Development.
Staff
Prepared by: Kristin Dance, Community Services Coordinator
Reviewed by: Trenton Hill, Community Services Manager
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Superintendent of Community Services
Approved by: Cynthia E. Bojorquez, Director, Department of Library and Community Services
ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity Map
2. Site Plan
3. Artist’s Resume
4. Elevation Rendering
5. Design Detail Rendering