INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION
To: Mayor Kassakhian and Members of the City Council
From: Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada, Director of Library, Arts & Culture By: Jennifer Fukutomi-Jones, Assistant Director of Library, Arts & Culture Date: September 3, 2026
Subject: Mural Ordinance – Mural Permit Fees
Background:
On August 25, 2026, Council introduced an ordinance proposing a new chapter to Title 30, Chapter
30.38 to the Glendale Zoning Code (Title 30), entitled “Murals”, repealing section 30.33.230, and amending sections 2.12.030, 30.33.020, 30.40.010, 30.40.020, 30.41.050, 30.47.030, 30.47.040,
30.47.040, 30.47.050, 30.47.070, 30.47.075, 30.47.090 and 30.61.010 of the Glendale Municipal Code (GMC), 1995 (Case NO. PZC-0018-2026). The proposed Zoning Code amendments update the existing mural design review standards and establish a clear set of procedures for mural installation, maintenance and de-installation.
After reviewing the staff report and proposed ordinance, hearing the detailed staff presentation, and receiving public testimony at the August 25, 2026, public hearing, the Council requested staff to provide additional information regarding the timeline for implementation, the determination of the mural permit and mural design review fees in the adopted FY 26/27 City-Wide Fee Schedule, and comparable city’s mural fees.
Estimated Mural Permit timeline and process for an applicant:
Staff anticipates that the overall mural permit application process (from the applicant starting the application to the City issuing the permit) will take approximately 3 to 6 months to complete.
Below is an overview of the 4 steps for the mural design review process:
Step #1 (1-2 months):
The applicant completes an online Mural Permit Application (including required documentation) in the Glendale Permits Portal. The length of this step is determined by the Applicant and how timely they can submit all required documents. This step also includes Staff assistance to the Applicant in preparing the mural permit application.
Step #2 (1 month):
The applicant pays the Mural Permit Application and Mural Design Review Fees.
Step #3 (1 month):
The Arts & Culture Commission will hold a Public Hearing to review the mural permit application which will take place during one of the Commission’s regularly scheduled meetings.
Step #4 (1 month):
If approved, Library, Arts & Culture staff will issue a Mural Permit.
EXHIBIT 2
The necessity of fees as funding support for services:
Taxes and fees are the two primary funding sources for local governments to provide essential public services. At the City of Glendale, the total FY 2026-27 General Fund tax revenues (property tax, sales tax, utility users tax, and transient occupancy tax) are estimated to be $226 million, while the total General Fund budget is $378 million with a funding gap of $152 million. Fees assessed for various General Fund services provided makes up the majority of the funding gap. Assessing fees to support essential public services is a necessity for Glendale as well as any other local government in the State and across the Country.
Proposition 26 defines all fees as taxes unless they fall in any one of the following 7 exceptions:
o Specific Benefit/Privilege (permits, franchises)
o Specific Service/Product (utility charges, park & rec. fees) o Reasonable Regulatory Fees for licenses & permits (permits, inspections) o Fee for entry, use or purchase of government property (parks & rec. entrance fees, equipment rental, some franchises)
o Fines & penalties
o Fees imposed as a condition of property development (limited to cost by other law) o Assessments & property-related fees subject to Prop.218 (limited to cost by 218)
In accordance with Proposition 26, the City began regularly conducting a fee study in 2011 to determine the actual cost of maintaining oversight of specific activities or for providing a private benefit to specific individuals or groups. The fee study is conducted by a professional services firm specializing in this field and follows best practices applied by public agencies across the country.
At its most basic core, the comprehensive fee study’s calculation methodology is distilled down to a reasonable estimate that takes into consideration fully burdened personnel hourly rates, time estimates for performing a task, and other overhead cost, which are then added to arrive at the full cost recovery calculation as illustrated below:
It is the City’s current practice to conduct fee studies of a few selected departments each year, on a rotational basis, with the goal of maintaining a current fee study for every department that is not older than 5 years since the previous study was performed. The Library, Arts & Culture fees were included in the FY 2025-26 fee study and the cost estimates for all Library, Arts & Culture fees are current.
Breakdown of staff costs used by Fee Study Consultant:
In Winter 2026, the Finance Department engaged Matrix Consulting Group to conduct a Fee Study of Library, Arts & Culture’s fees as part of its regular review cycle. Fees such as the ones outlined below are part of the City’s General Fund Revenue and are typical to a City government. Typical fees include signage permit fees and construction permit fees, which often take significant amount of staff time to conduct. The purpose of these fees is to recover the costs the City incurs to provide the service.
The introduction of murals as a quality of life and tourism draw for a City is above and beyond the basic services a City is typically expected to provide, and, if successful, is an increase to the Arts & Culture Division’s current public art offerings.
The below fees were estimated based upon the limited mural approvals by the Arts & Culture Commission since November 2020, as well as the processes and practices from the Community Development Department’s Planning Division and Design Review Board, which oversaw mural approvals prior to November 2020, when design review authority was transferred to the Arts & Culture Commission.
The below fees are charged AFTER the applicant has submitted their application.
Mural Permit Fee
The Mural Permit Fee is based on 1 hour of work from an Exhibition Coordinator at a fully burdened hourly rate of $146.86 (including salaries, benefits and overhead costs) to complete tasks such as:
download application and review submission details. The full cost recovery for the Mural Permit Fee is $146.86. The adopted Mural Permit Fee is $100, at 68% cost recovery, subsidized at 32%.
Renewal Mural Permit Fee
To be more accessible and to encourage the longevity of murals in the community, the Planning Commission recommended a Mural Renewal Fee of 25% of the adopted Mural Permit Fee which would amount to $25. This Mural Renewal Fee would be applied every 5 years to existing Mural Permit holders wishing to maintain their mural.
Mural Design Review Fees
The Mural Design Review Fees (small, medium and large) are based on the Principal Administrator of Library, Arts & Culture’s fully burdened hourly rate of $214.31 (including salaries, benefits and overhead costs) and an average of 30 hours of staff time associated with the design review for each mural permit application. The full cost recovery for the Mural Design Review Fee is $6,429.30.
The 30 hours of staff time includes tasks such as:
• 5 hours: reviewing application, scheduling meeting with applicant, meet with applicant to discuss mural approval process
• 20 hours: assisting applicant through the process and coordinating required documents with applicant, meeting with City Attorney's office to discuss public hearing, preparing staff report and exhibits for the public hearing, attending public hearing. Much of the work to assist the applicant occurs prior to the charging of the fee. The applicant is only charged after all documents are successfully submitted. Some individuals may require a significant amount of assistance but decide not to apply. This time estimate takes into account the average of multiple scenarios.
• 5 hours: prepare Record of Decision, finalize mural maintenance plan with applicant, close out project
Staff recommended an equitable sliding scale tiered fee structure (small, medium, and large) for the Mural Design Review fees to make the fees more accessible to small and medium-size businesses as well as non-profit organizations and property owners who do not fall into a commercial business or non- profit category and are labeled as “Standard”. The logic behind the equitable sliding scale is that larger businesses are able to absorb the full recovery cost as they will have a larger operation and net worth than smaller businesses, non-profit organizations, and organizations which do not fit into the category of being a commercial business.
It should be noted that the applicant is the determinant of the tiered rate. If the applicant is not the property owner, the property owner must agree to the mural before approval. Below are examples of how rates might be applied:
• If a non-profit leases space in a building and applies to add a mural to the building with the property owners permission, the “Small Commercial Business / Non-Profit / Standard Fee” would apply.
• If the building is owned by one individual who leases space to a business that has 30 employees, but the property owner is the applicant, the “Small Commercial Business / Non-Profit / Standard Fee” would apply.
• If the building is owned by a corporation with over 100 employees, and the corporation’s business occupies the space, and the corporation is the applicant, the “Large Commercial Business fee” would apply.
It is also important to note that all of the proposed and adopted murals since November 2020 have fallen into the “Small Commercial Business / Non-Profit / Standard Fee” category, which is the most subsidized fee. LAC anticipates that based on this data, the majority of mural applications will fall under this fee category.
The adopted Mural Design Review fees are:
• Small Commercial Business (up to 10 employees) / Non-Profit / Standard Fee is $400.00 which is a 6% cost recovery of staff time and the Mural Design Review. *This category is the anticipated majority of applicants.
• Medium Commercial Business (11-50 employees) is $3,215.00 which is a 50% cost recovery of staff time.
• Large Commercial Business (<50 employees) fee of $6,429.00 accounts for a 100% cost recovery of staff time
Mural Appeals Fee
The adopted Mural Appeals Fee is based on 21 hours of staff time between two staff members:
• Exhibition Coordinator, 1 hour: download application, review submission details. • Principal Administrator, 20 hours: coordinating required documents with applicant, meeting with City Attorney's office to discuss public hearing, preparing staff report and exhibits for the public hearing, attending public hearing
The adopted Mural Appeals Fee is $4,433, which is 100% of the cost recovery.
Comparable Cities:
City Council requested information on what neighboring cities charge. Below is a list of neighboring cities that have mural-related fees. Our neighboring city’s fees are not a part of a mural specific permit but rather fall under “sign” permitting fees.
Mural ordinance versus a sign ordinance
If adopted, Glendale will be one of the few cities in the state with a specific Mural Ordinance, making Glendale a regional leader for developing formalized mural regulation on private property. Glendale’s mural ordinance would become a model for other cities moving forward.
The mural ordinance is focused on the governance of non-commercial public art compared to a sign ordinance that is focused on the governance of commercial branding, advertising and displays. The benefit of a mural ordinance is to provide clear guidelines on what is permitted and transparency on the mural approval process. The current Glendale Municipal Code regarding murals primarily focuses on design review standards. The mural ordinance would provide clear guidelines on mural installation, maintenance and removal.
City of Los Angeles
• $60 mural registration fee (any commercial business). Based on the ordinance, t his fee is based on the administrative cost for mural registration program implementation. The fee has not been adjusted since its establishment in 2013.
City of Burbank
• A sign permit assumes two hours of staff time because it is typically just a single sign for a project site. Assistant Planner is responsible for this work. Fee is $169.52. • A sign permit program is more involved because applicants need assistance with creating sign standards for a project site. This assumes eight hours of staff time. Assistant Planner is responsible for this work. Fee is $678.10.
• A sign program with a Planned Development is creating sign standards for the entire Planned Development. These are typically the largest developments in the City, so the sign programs are usually more complex than a sign program for non-Planned Development sites. They assume 16 hours of staff time. Senior Planner is responsible for this work. Fee is $1,356.18.
City of Pasadena
• Murals are under "sign" permitting with fees; applicants pay one "Creative Sign" permit fee which is $992.00. The City has not yet responded to our request for further detailed information or cost breakdown.