That the City Manager work with the Cambridge Arts Council, Traffic and Parking Department, Community Development Department, and Central Square Advisory Committee to establish the Central Square Improvement Fund and allocate no less than 25% of funds generated to the arts

City of Cambridge O-6 IN CITY COUNCIL January 7, 2019 COUNCILLOR MALLON MAYOR MCGOVERN WHEREAS: Central Square is our City’s Arts and Culture District, a designation awarded to the Square by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2011; and WHEREAS: Cultural Districts come with only limited State funding, as the $3.5 million allotted is divided between 329 local cultural councils, averaging approximately $4,500.00 to each cultural district per year; and WHEREAS: This amount of State funding is helpful but not sufficient in funding cultural district initiatives in Central Square and for example, the recent and very popular Mural Project that was sponsored by the Central Square Business Association in partnership with the Cambridge Community Foundation had a total cost of over $140,000.00; and WHEREAS: Section 20.304.6 3(b)(1.)(i) of the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance establishes the Central Square Improvement Fund, which waives minimum parking and loading requirements if the developer makes a cash contribution to the fund in an amount equal to fifty (50) percent of the cost of construction of the parking spaces not provided; and WHEREAS: One of the allowed uses for funds paid to the Central Square Improvement Fund is “programming, events, and infrastructure that contribute to the Cultural District established in Central Square”; now therefore be it ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Cambridge Arts Council, Traffic and Parking Department, the Community Development Department, and the Central Square Advisory Committee to establish the Central Square Improvement Fund; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Cambridge Arts Council and the Central Square Advisory Committee to implement a distribution procedure for funds paid into the Central Square Improvement Fund, with no less than 25% of funds paid being allocated to the arts; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager report back to the City Council in a timely manner.