BEVERLY HILLS
PRESERVATION ORDINANCE

Beverly Hills City Hall. Photo by waltarrrrr on Flickr.

Congratulations to the City of Beverly Hills for adopting a new historic preservation ordinance!

The City Council voted unanimously on January 10 to adopt the ordinance, which will help protect the city's irreplaceable historic and cultural resources.

The City has made great strides in the wake of several demolitions and the near-destruction of Richard Neutra's Kronish House.

We applaud the City Council and the Planning Department for their hard work in creating a meaningful ordinance that offers both protections and incentives.

The City's website has video of the Jan. 10 ordinance discussion and vote.

Video: Ordinance Discussion and Vote, Beverly Hills City Council Meeting, Jan. 10, 2012

Background

Beverly Hills has seen a disturbing trend of demolition in recent years, despite growing interest in protecting the city's built heritage.

Kronish House, August 2011. Photo courtesy CurbedLA.

The most recent, and high-profile, example was the near-demolition of the Kronish House (Richard Neutra, 1955) in the summer of 2011.

In February 2011, the City Council approved a project that would demolish the 1935 apartment building at 9936 Durant Drive, by noted architect Robert Derrah.

Demolition of the Gershwin-Clooney House, 2005. Photo from Conservancy archives.

The Friars Club building (Sidney Eisenshtat, 1961) was razed in early 2011, the Shusett residence (John Lautner, 1951) was demolished in September 2010.

The former residence of both George Gershwin and Rosemary Clooney was demolished in 2005.

Lack of Protections Common

Until now, t he City of Beverly Hills has been one of many in Los Angeles County that have no protections for their historic resources.

In preparing our 2008 Countywide Preservation Report Card, the Conservancy found that more than a third of all jurisdictions in the county have no such protections.

The Conservancy offers technical assistance to local governments who wish to strengthen their preservation policies. For more information, please contact us at info@laconservancy.org or (213) 623-2489.