Builder's Remedy Catastrophy

Inexcusable Housing Element Failures and Resulting in

19 Builder's Remedy Projects

up to 36 Stories High

Our city was given approximately two years to prepare and file an acceptable housing element with the state, demonstrating where about 3,000 housing units could potentially be built. The requirement was not to build these units--only to make provisions which would allow for their potential construction.

As council members, Planning Department staff, and planning commissioners well understood, failure to timely file an acceptable housing element by late 2021 would allow developers to utilize Builder's Remedy laws, enabling them to build without regard to our height limits and zoning, provided their projects included certain percentages of affordable housing.

Here's the timeline for almost 3 years of the city's repeated failures to get our housing element accepted following the 2 years the city had to prepare the housing elements, as confirmed by the city's website:

1. June 3, 2021 First unacceptable submission

2. October 18, 2021 Second unacceptable submission

3. September 28, 2022 Third unacceptable submission

4. March 13, 2023 Fourth unacceptable submission

5. October 18, 2023 Fifth unacceptable submission

6. February 14, 2024 Sixth submission which was re-submitted on March 19, 2024

because it was acceptable to the state

These dates may be confirmed by scrolling down at the city's website at

https://www.beverlyhills.org/1078/2021-Housing-Element-Update

As a consequence of these failures, developers were able to initiate the following 19 Builder's Remedy projects throughout 2021, 2022, 2023, and early 2024, which projects significantly violate our established height limits and zoning regulations:

36 stories, 1 project, 125-9 S. Linden

31 stories, 1 project, 8364-8370 Wilshire

26 stories, 2 projects, 8844 Burton Way and 9229 Wilshire Boulevard

15 stories, 2 projects, 140 S. Camden and 145 S. Rodeo

*14 stories, 1 project, 211-17 S. Hamilton

**12 stories, 3 projects, 346 N. Maple, 8800 Wilshire and 8820 Wilshire

11 stories, 1 project, 401 N. Oakhurst

10 stories, 2 projects, 9430 Olympic and 9441 Olympic at Beverly Drive

9 stories, 1 project, 8222-6 Olympic

8 stories, 5 projects, 201 S. Arnaz, 353 S. Beverly, 214-16 S. Hamilton,

9467 Olympic, 232 S. Tower

* The project at 211-17 S. Hamilton was placed on hold.

** Projects at 8800 and 8820 Wilshire were closed by the city, and now are the subject of litigation.

Many residents would like to know who is to blame for 5 housing element filing failures occurring over almost 3 years plus the 2 years the city had to prepare the housing element, and whether these failures resulted from incompetence or intentional misconduct which may have been encouraged by builder's remedy developers.

Who is to blame? And why did it take the city years to encourage adaptive re-use of existing commercial buildings--which should have been the city's first move? And why did it take the city years to make it easier for residents to build ADU's? Is it because council majority members did not want more ADU's built in their own neighborhoods?

1. Former council majority members are rumored to have exhibited a nonchalant attitude toward state requirements, and directed a slowdown on making it easier for residents to build ADU's, and on taking actions which would support adaptive re-use of existing commercial buildings. Council Members during this time period were former council members Lili Bosse and Julian Gold, and present council members Lester Friedman, Sharona Nazarian, and John Mirisch. Neither Nazarian nor Mirsch were members of the three council member majority who most often voted together--Bosse, Gold, and Friedman.

2. Planning Commissioners Peter Ostroff and Myra Demeter co-chaired the Planning Commission Ad Hoc Committee on the housing element filing.

3. Ryan Gohlich, now the Assistant City Manager since early 2023, was the Director of Community Development in 2021. In 2022, Timmy Tway, the Assistant Director of Community Development, became the Director of Community Development, and left the city's employment in 2023. Masa Alkire stepped into Tway's position of Assistant Director of Community Development and left the city's employment in 2025. The present Director of Community Development since 2023 is Michael Forbes.

Despite the resulting substantial damage which must be endured by our city, its skyline, our neighborhoods, our property values, and our quality of life, council members have been unwilling to initiate an inquiry to determine responsibility and whether the failures were due to negligence or intentional actions. So staff members and others who were incompetent or may have intentionally sabotaged the housing element filing continue to enjoy their generous salaries, benefits, and reputations, and council members continue to seek re-election.

Additional collateral damages is all of the money that has had to be paid by the city to our City Attorney's office and others to oppose Builder's Remedy projects, as well as attorney's fees and costs which the city had been ordered to pay to developers when the city has lost a case or paid to settle a developer's case.

The buck must stop at the council members, and in particular, the council members who were in the majority and wielded the power to promote and raise the pay of staff members. And the moment the first housing element was rejected, council members should have stepped up and and become involved with why the housing element was rejected and should have taken action to assure that what was required to be done, would be taken care of in a timely manner.

(Revised 5-9-26)