A proposed change to Boston’s zoning code would allow developers to contribute to a special fund that would support spaces for artists and art organizations.

The revenue stream would be directed, for the first time, to the Mayor’s office instead of to a nonprofit corporation.

Developers in Economic Development Area South, a district of the South End on Harrison Avenue, can request higher height limits in return for allocating space for the arts, or by contributing through a “cash out” option. This clause of Article 64, which governs the South End, was intended to protect and stimulate the arts while allowing continued development.

The Boston Local Development Corporation (BLDC), an independently governed 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was meant to receive the cash out money.

But in practice, little art space has been provided under this program because, “For tax reasons, BLDC wasn’t able to receive those funds,” said Bryan Glascock, deputy director for regulatory planning and zoning at the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), the City’s umbrella development agency.

“As development is proposed for the area, there needs to be a receiver for any funds from cash out,” Glascock explained.

The change to the zoning code would allow those funds to be redirected to the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, which is not subject to the same restrictions as the BLDC, which provides small business loans in partnership with the BPDA.

The redirection of funds would be unique in Boston, and serve as a trial for other rapidly growing areas where residents desire arts work to be protected and encouraged.

“We’re not doing that anywhere else in the city just yet,” said Glascock, who said the idea of using development to support artist spaces was a new concept nationwide.

The specific application of the funds is yet to be determined.

“What we’ve heard from the arts and culture community is, access to space is the number one thing,” said Kara Elliot Ortega, chief of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture. “For some time we’ve wanted to provide technical assistance.” Elliot Ortega expects the zoning change to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in new funds, based on the property value of new developments in the area. A series of public meetings on the best use of the funds will be held in “early summer”, she said.

Simply subsidizing rents and operational costs isn’t off the table, but Elliot Ortega said her priority was on efforts that were “sustainable”. By that, she meant training.

Ortega envisions a technical assistance program where new and growing arts organizations could gain operational skills they need to make use of newly available spaces. “People don’t understand how much work it is to run a free space,” Elliot Ortega said. “Operating a facility is a new step for an organization that requires more fundraising, new staff, and maybe an entirely different business model.”Interested citizens can follow the Office of Arts and Culture’s website, where noticies for meetings will be posted. Comment for the zoning proposal closes on June 8 at 5 pm.