The city of West Hollywood has launched its Open My Business portal, a user-friendly online tool powered by OpenCounter and developed to guide small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs through the process of site selection. The open portal will also help business owners understand the costs and requirements of opening or expanding a business.

“Small businesses are the engines of our local economy,” West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico said. “I’m thrilled to see our city develop innovative online tools that can assist people wishing to open or expand a business. The Open My Business portal helps streamline service delivery to residents by guiding applicants through permitting workflows so they can understand the full scope of their projects before they get started. This cuts down on trips to City Hall, saving applicants both time and money and getting businesses open sooner.”

Open My Business is built around West Hollywood’s zoning and land use regulations and provides users with a customized “roadmap” of requirements, which is helpful when assessing how to open or expand a business. Intuitive zoning maps reveal where a project is permitted, conditionally permitted and prohibited in the city. Automatic permit scoping quickly reveals permit requirements based on site selection. Estimated fees are calculated in real-time as applicants enter project details. On summary pages, required permits are listed by department, with links to relevant permit application material. The project summary can also be downloaded as a PDF and shared with other members of business teams.

There are two specific tools in the Open My Business portal. The first, a zoning check tool, will allow users to explore where different business types are permitted throughout the city. The second, a permit and fees check tool,

The Open My Business portal is accessible on the city’s website by visiting weho.org/openmybusiness.