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New Law Promotes Arts “Shared Use” Spaces By
GARY SCHUSTER, Esq. In August, New York
Governor Elliot Spitzer signed into law a new Section 3.15 of the
New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. The law directs the
New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to develop and maintain
a pilot grant program to help working artists secure “shared use”
facilities. The law defines a “shared use facility” as “a space
which provides an artist either studio, performance or gallery space
in which to practice or display his or her art form, and living quarters
that meet all applicable local and state housing ordinances and statutes.” In other words, the law promotes what most people in the arts
refer to as “live/work” spaces. The legislature invented a new phrase
for it, “shared use facility,” which is not a very descriptive or
helpful phrase. Even so, the new law is good news for artists and
their communities. The NYSCA grant money is to be used to cover the rent, or a
portion of the rent, for a shared use facility. Each grant is
to cover a 2-year period and is not to exceed $12,000 for an individual
artist. Do the math, and an individual artist could receive the equivalent
of up to $500 a month to help with rent for a shared use facility
over a 2-year period. A limit of $20,000 applies to “multiple artists”
who enter into a cooperative agreement, and to arts organizations.
The law states that “special consideration” is to be given to multiple
artist arrangements, provided that each artist must fully use the
shared use space for both art and living purposes. Arts organizations
are expressly authorized to re-grant their grant money to individual
or multiple artists. No particular amount of money has been dedicated to this program.
NYSCA is to determine the amount of money it devotes to these grants,
from its own budget. Significantly, this is only a pilot program that applies only
to the following four cities: Kingston, New York, Rochester and Syracuse.
Initially, artists living and working in these cities will be the
only direct beneficiaries. The program is to expire on December 31,
2012. However, the law requires these pilot cities to measure the
impact of the program annually. The implication is that if there are
clear benefits, the program could be continued or expanded. One impediment to broader application of the program is local
zoning ordinances, which generally do not permit commercial activity
in residential buildings, or residing in commercial buildings. Many
communities throughout the nation have mixed use zoning for artists,
but it is still relatively rare and arts activists continue to push
for it. Presumably, the four New York pilot cities have mixed
use zoning. Peekskill, Beacon and Ellenville also have such zoning.
Newburgh’s Arts and Cultural Commission has made a proposal on the
issue to the city government, but no official action has yet been
taken. The new law should strengthen the hand of activists. Section
1 of the law states that "the legislature finds that communities
having artists living, working and displaying their craft achieve
greater levels of sustainable growth and economic development.
It is therefore determined to be in the best interest of the people
of the state to enable artists to maintain residences, performance
space and work space in our communities.” That legislative finding
amounts to Albany's official stamp of approval of live/work spaces
for artists, and more generally, an endorsement of the arts as a vehicle
of economic development. Local governments should be confident
that “shared use” zoning is neither novel nor risky, but a credible
vehicle for community and economic development. (Gary
M. Schuster, a frequent contributor to our pages, is an attorney with
Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP in Walden). |
