In case you didn’t know, Beverly Hills hates SB 79. The city said so publicly. Its mayor called it what it is — Sacramento overreach. The city filed a formal opposition with the state. None of it made a difference, the law passed anyway.
But, unlike West Hollywood which seems to be stuck at the proverbial station, Beverly Hills did what the law allows for and built a plan.
Earlier this week the Beverly Hills City Council unanimously approved a Transit-Oriented Development Alternative Plan (TODAP) that keeps SB 79’s required density away from single-family neighborhoods (for the most part) and steers it into a commercial corridor near its new Metro D Line station. They started working on it in January. They got state approval and finished before July 1. Beverly Hills has one advantage West Hollywood doesn’t — its population is under 35,000, which means SB 79 only applies within a quarter mile of its stations rather than the half mile West Hollywood would face. It filed a TODAP anyway.
West Hollywood’s City Council meets June 15 and still no TODAP. Some may be asking what’s the hurry, West Hollywood isn’t even on the SCAG map — yet. Its K-Line stations didn’t qualify under the current methodology, plus the City doesn’t have any qualifying bus rapid transit lines so what’s the rush? The map updates annually, and a TODAP takes months to develop and get state approval. Filing after the map arrives means the train has left the station and you’re too late.
“Obviously none of us like SB 79,” Beverly Hills Mayor Craig Corman said after the vote. “It’s another example of Sacramento overreach. But you play the hand you’re dealt. In that regard, I think staff has done a very good job in fashioning this hand.”
What a TODAP Actually Does
A Transit-Oriented Development Alternative Plan doesn’t block SB 79. Nothing does. What it does is give a city local control over where the law’s required density lands — steering it away from single-family blocks and toward corridors built for it. Beverly Hills moved 50 percent of the density near its La Cienega station east along Wilshire, into a mixed-use zone where development already belongs. The single-family neighborhoods around the station still get some impact. They just get less of it than they would have without the plan.
Beverly Hills submitted its plan to the California Department of Housing and Community Development on January 21. HCD has up to 120 days to review. June 9 was the final approval. That’s how long this takes when a city starts on time.
If West Hollywood started today, it would be looking at October or November before HCD signs off. The SCAG map updates annually. The K-Line will eventually gain the environmental clearance or federal construction funding it needs to qualify. When it does, West Hollywood lands on the map. A TODAP developed after that date would arrive after the fact.
What Happened at West Hollywood’s Last Meeting
The TODAP was on the West Hollywood City Council’s agenda at its May 18 meeting. Mayor John Heilman continued the item to June rather than bring it to a vote. Heilman and Councilmember Lauren Meister supported pursuing the plan. Councilmembers Chelsea Byers and John Erickson did not, arguing that West Hollywood’s Zoning Improvement Program was sufficient. Meister pushed back.
“If we give up whatever little control we have now over land use due to state laws, then we are not doing our jobs,” Meister said. “SB 79 gives us the ability to plan.”
City Staff has confirmed to WEHOonline that ZIP cannot override SB 79 where state law applies. They’re not the same instrument. Beverly Hills has its own local planning process and filed a TODAP anyway.
Vice Mayor Danny Hang said he wanted to see whether West Hollywood ended up on the SCAG map before committing. The map came out June 1. West Hollywood’s K-Line stations weren’t on it. The reprieve is real but it’s temporary. The WeHo Heights Neighborhood Association sent a letter to the City Council this month demanding a TODAP specifically to protect its hillside streets — designated as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone — regardless of where the K-Line map lands.
What Residents Are Actually Asking For
The Beverly Hills approach is exactly what many West Hollywood residents have been asking for. Not to block SB 79 — nobody thinks that’s possible. What they want is a TODAP that steers the law’s required density toward Santa Monica Boulevard and Sunset Strip, the commercial corridors that can absorb it, and away from the handful of R1 single-family neighborhoods West Hollywood has left, and away from the renters and hillside residents whose streets and homes are just as much at stake. It’s the same logic Beverly Hills used. Take the density where it already makes sense.
West Hollywood’s commercial corridors along Santa Monica Boulevard are already built for higher density. They’re transit-adjacent, commercially zoned, and in many stretches significantly underdeveloped. A TODAP built around them would satisfy SB 79’s capacity requirements while keeping the scale and character of what remains of the city’s residential fabric intact. That’s the plan residents have been asking the Council to make.
Byers and Erickson have argued that West Hollywood’s Zoning Improvement Program already does this work and that a TODAP is unnecessary. City Staff has said otherwise on the record. The more fundamental issue is that Byers has said publicly she wants denser, taller communities regardless of SB 79 — and that she sees the law as an opportunity, not a threat to be managed. A TODAP, by design, is a tool for managing it.
West Hollywood’s residents know what they want — density on the commercial corridors, not next to what’s left of their single-family neighborhoods and not threatening the renters and hillside residents who’ve already been fighting to stay. The council just needs to show up and do the work Beverly Hills did.
Related Coverage
SB 79 Map Is Out. West Hollywood Isn’t On It. What It Means — and Doesn’t.
West Hollywood SB 79 Town Hall: Residents Demand City Act Before July 1
The fearsome threesome (Erickson, Hang and Byers) on the City Council is trying to pay for the K-Line Extension on the backs of the community and choosing greedy developers over our quality of life. Denying a conversation on alternatives exposes their corruption.
Well, Beverly Hills is affected by SB 79 starting July 1, so of course they went balls to the wall – a station opened in May and two more will later this year. West Hollywood is not affected this year, and likely won’t be for a while. I think it’s possible some of this information was misconstrued. When City staff says ZIP “cannot override SB 79.” As a planner, I would interpret that to mean that ZIP cannot ignore State law, not that ZIP and a TODAP are necessarily incompatible processes or plans. While ZIP was formed to meet the… Read more »
this is misleading, at best. a TODAP is a mechanism under SB79 to allow local control on where to allocate SB79-mandated upzoning. A TODAP for any given region cannot and does not exist unless and until until SB79 has triggered upzoning in that region, it is by definition an “alternative plan” to the default SB79 big circle on a map. The point is to have a TODAP prepared and in place *before* SB79 kicks in, so that the TODAP becomes effective immediately upon SB79’s implementation, with no gap. Your threat that a TODAP could generate additional upzoning before SB79 kicks… Read more »
Well, Beverly Hills is affected by SB 79 starting July 1, so of course they went balls to the wall – a station opened in May and two more will later this year. West Hollywood is not affected this year, and likely won’t be for a while. I think it’s possible some of this information was misconstrued. When City staff says ZIP “cannot override SB 79.” As a planner, I would interpret that to mean that ZIP cannot ignore State law, not that ZIP and a TODAP are necessarily incompatible processes or plans. While ZIP was formed to meet the… Read more »
Funny how SB 79 is making nimby neighborhoods fight other nimby neighborhoods,by forcing them to decide where housing should be built..!
Seems pretty obvious to me…John Erickson, Chelsea Byers, and Danny Hang are loyal to whomever can give them money in large amounts to line their pockets or further their political careers. The developers are smart enough to know that what seems like a lot of money to us, is “bubkes” to them compared to what they can make in West Hollywood if they grease a few of the right palms! All we can give them is our vote, and they don’t seem all that worried about us as long as so many voters remain apathetic and/or uninformed. So, of course… Read more »
Good riddance Chelsea Byers. And John and Danny – get ready for the worst years of your life. You’re finished.
The contrast could not be clearer. Beverly Hills may dislike SB 79, but it chose to govern. West Hollywood’s ideological faction appears content to let Sacramento make the decisions for us. A TODAP is not anti-housing. It is pro-planning. The real question is why some councilmembers, mostly Chelsea Byers and John Erickson, seem so hostile to preserving even the limited local control that state law still allows. SB 79 reflects a philosophy that would be familiar to advocates of centralized planning everywhere: decisions are best made by experts far removed from the communities affected by them. No, California is not… Read more »
That’s what we get when we elect people who look at the position as a stepping stone. BH council people are beholden only to BH. They don’t have to worry about offending pals in Sacramento.
This article is PERFECT. West Hollywood needs a TODAP. Over 40 residents expressed that loudly and clearly at the last Council meeting and Erickson, Byers and Hang ignored it.
Byers, who claims to be a climate advocate had the audacity to ask SCAG for the elimination of the need of an environmental report prior to excavating the subway in WeHo. Her goal is to get the subway stops on the map so SB79’s unchecked over-densification starts applying asap.
Byers, Erickson and Hang need to support residents, not developers and ask for a TODAP now.
To allow this sort of intensification of zoning when the subway is at least thirty or more years from coming to WeHo seems irresponsible and does not give the community an opportunity to come up with a more viable plan that gives us the additional housing without destroying the unique character of West Hollywood. It is interesting how the City and Council members talk about our “unique” neighborhoods and character when it suits them and when it doesn’t treats us as if we were a suburb in the Valley.
Chelsea Byers talks a good game about “community,” but SB 79 is fundamentally about shifting decisions away from local communities and toward Sacramento. Supporting that while simultaneously preaching community engagement is a contradiction that deserves scrutiny. At some point, “community” stops being a principle and starts becoming a buzzword deployed only when it supports a predetermined political agenda.
What community is miss Byers referring to? Certainly not weho’s, of which she has no history in.
Beverly Hills City Council and City Staff are serious individuals and take issues like TODAP seriously whereas several members of Weho City Council are not only not knowledgeable but their priorities are neither the City that they allegedly serve but their own advancement.
Residents: See you all on Monday night!! Tell the council now is the time to start working on our TODAP. The WE in WEHO will be heard. Looking forward to the council making the right decision.
Kody-
I consider myself an optimist, but envisioning the Council as currently constituted voting for a TODAP is, sadly, a bridge too far for me. I’m looking at you, Chelsea Byers, John Erickson, and Danny Hang.
When you (Kody) and Kyle Brazeal and hopefully one more resident-centered candidate are elected come November, I will have more faith in the likelihood of the creation of a TODAP for West Hollywood.
Brian Holt, thank you for educating many of us (myself included) in regards to the stakes and the logistics of protecting West Hollywood’s future.
I wrote to Danny Hang and wanted to invite him to walk around one of our beautiful historic neighborhoods. Zero response. Thanks Danny!
Thank you for trying to engage Danny Hang and sharing your experience. At the Fountain Ave road/parking diet town hall last year, an older resident told me she approached Chelsea Byers, who gave her the hand. And given John Erickson’s consistent arrogance and condescension towards residents, maybe being ignored by Erickson is a good thing?