Residents can cast ballots at the vote center at City Hall Municipal Gallery, 455 N. Rexford Drive. (photo by Joey Waldinger)

Beverly Hills residents have begun voting in a special election on Cheval Blanc Beverly Hills, the culmination of an approximately two year effort by LVMH to develop a project that will transform the northern end of the Golden Triangle.

Election day is Tuesday, May 23, but a vote center opened on May 13 at City Hall Municipal Gallery, 455 N. Rexford Drive, where residents can cast their ballots daily from 10 a.m.-7 p.m, or submit their ballots by mail.

Proposed on the 400 blocks on North Rodeo and North Beverly drives, the luxury mixed-use project would include a hotel with 109 rooms, roughly 25,000 square feet of retail space, a private club, wellness center and pool deck. 

Although the project has been heralded by most of the City Council and many residents as a unique opportunity to bolster the city’s general fund and boost its standing as an international luxury destination, it has not been without controversy.

Councilman John Mirisch, the lone council member in opposition, argued that the deal favored LVMH, and some residents claim the development would ruin the Golden Triangle’s character.

After the City Council approved a development agreement with LVMH in November, residents and organizers with labor union Unite Here Local 11, which represents service industry workers in Southern California, gathered more than 6,000 petition signatures to repeal the two ordinances approving the project, triggering the special election.

Voters now have an opportunity to vote yes or no on Measure B, which asks if they want to approve the zoning ordinance allowing the development to go forward, and Measure C, which asks if they want to approve the development agreement with LVMH.

Campaigners on both sides of the issue have ratcheted up their efforts in recent weeks. Supporters of the project, including Mayor Julian Gold, have written editorials encouraging residents to vote for the development.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the Yes on B and C campaign on May 17 sent a cease and desist letter to Residents Against Overdevelopment principal officer Deborah Blum and treasurer Darian Bojeaux, after the group claimed on Facebook and via email that LVMH officials were distributing fliers that contained incorrect information.

“The recent allegations are false and we have demanded that they be retracted or corrected. The flier being referred to is not from our campaign, Cheval Blanc or LVMH, and we had nothing to do with its content, design, production or distribution. Our campaign strictly adheres to local election laws and includes a disclosure wherever required,” a Yes on B and C spokesperson stated.

Despite the strong feelings over the project, few have been willing to predict an outcome.

“I don’t know how to predict the outcome of an election that relies on so much disinformation and such a disparity in resources poured into a campaign whose result is going to permanently damage our community as a place to live,” Beverly Hills Municipal League president Thomas A. White said.

Resident Nooshin Meshkaty said that while many other residents share her support for the project, there is always a question of whether people will actually turn out to vote.

Mayor Julian Gold said that given how much public scrutiny the project has been under, he is “cautiously optimistic” that residents will realize the benefits outweigh the negatives, and will be swayed to vote in favor.

No matter what happens on May 23, Gold is confident that the controversies over the project will eventually subside, and the disagreements will be settled, he said.

“We seem to do this a bit over hotels,” Gold added. “We had controversy over the Four Seasons, we had controversy over the Hilton, we had controversy over the Montage. Here we are again.”