Beverly Hills in Crisis as Judge Mandates New Affordable Housing: "People Are Furious"
For inhabitants of the country's most sought-after ZIP code, the unwelcome news came in December: In a move to pressure the city to zone for more affordable housing, a restrictive ruling by a Superior Court judge put a moratorium on Beverly Hills' right to approve any new home additions or project proposals by residents pending the approval of new homes for lower-income locals. In this ultra-exclusive community, where home remodeling is practically a sport, the notion that all renovations - from simple kitchen remodels to multimillion-dollar grotto installations - would require the ushering in of outsiders, or be delayed indefinitely, brought a particular unease.
That unease has turned to outrage for many living in the 5.71 square miles that make up the famed city, where rents and mortgages are more than double the national average. Following Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin's Dec. 23 ruling, the city now finds itself fully entrenched in a battle over what's become an urgent issue across many U.S. cities: the demand for significant and meaningful affordable housing projects. Many residents - already wary of the added foot traffic that will follow the opening of the Wilshire/Rodeo Metro station - just want the status quo to remain in Beverly Hills. Some argue that Beverly Hills simply does not have the space to accommodate any new housing at all - affordable or not.
"People are furious, they're infuriated that a judge has the right to put a moratorium on residents on something that's not their fight and not their fault," Aaron Kirman, a Beverly Hills resident who represents exclusive properties across L.A. and appears on CNBC's real estate reality series Listing Impossible, tells The Hollywood Reporter. "The reality is, Beverly Hills doesn't have much land. I think that [Judge Kin] put everybody in a very complicated and compromising situation."
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