The new ordinance will prohibit street parking for all residents of certain housing projects located near transit stops. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

The Beverly Hills City Council on Oct. 28 unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance that will prohibit certain residents from receiving street parking permits. 

Residents prohibited from receiving permits under the ordinance include those who live in buildings that utilize state law parking reductions and exemptions. For example, a new building project that is within a half-mile from a major transit station is not required to provide any onsite parking under Assembly Bill 2097. With the anticipated opening of two Metro stations in Beverly Hills, the city will prohibit residents in those buildings from obtaining parking permits in order to maintain street parking for existing residents. 

Many of the buildings that utilize parking reductions and exemptions are affordable housing projects, including several builder’s remedy projects that were recently approved by the Planning Commission. 

“Given that recently proposed or approved projects may utilize these parking exemptions or reductions and place strain on existing on-street parking resources, the draft ordinance would prohibit the use of the preferential permit parking programs by residents of such projects to preserve parking for current residents and mitigate overcrowding,” Principal Planner Chloe Chen said.  

Residents of such projects would be prohibited from participating in the preferential parking permit program, which allows parking outside of posted time limits, and the overnight parking permit program, which allows overnight parking in multifamily areas. 

All projects in multifamily or mixed-used zones that do not provide the number of parking spaces usually required in that zone will be prohibited from receiving parking permits. Buildings that add one or more accessory dwelling units after Nov. 1, 2025 will also be prohibited from receiving permits. 

The ordinance requires owners and landlords to notify new and existing tenants that they will be unable to attain parking permits. It requires a written acknowledgement from a new tenant that they understand the restrictions upon signing a lease. 

The ordinance received one public comment in support of approval. 

“I wholeheartedly support this,” resident John Luca said. “It’s important that it happens because of the builder’s remedy projects, but not exclusively.” 

The City Council unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance. The ordinance will return to the City Council at a future date for formal adoption. 

“This is something that Sacramento and the state wanted to change parking laws so that anything that’s built near transit does not require parking. This is one of the times we want to be able to honor that, and so I think that this is a great way to show our partnership with Sacramento in supporting that,” Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian said. “I think it’s very important to let our residents know that we heard them, and we are taking action to protect our current residents … If you are building close to transit, you should be relying less on cars – that’s what Sacramento’s message is … we are abiding by that.” 

The new ordinance in Beverly Hills mirrors a State Assembly bill that was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024. Assembly Bill 2712, which was authored by then-Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) and co-authored by Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Hollywood), prohibits the use of preferential parking by projects that utilize a state law parking exemption. However, Assembly Bill 2712 only applies in the city of Los Angeles. A notable exception in the bill specifies that tenants of affordable housing units can still participate in preferential parking. 

The Beverly Hills ordinance does not make an exception for residents of affordable housing units.