Beverly Hills Extends OpenBH Program Till Dec. 31

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously to extend OpenBH, a program allowing businesses to get special event permits to expand onto sidewalks and public spaces, without the usual related waiver fees.

At the request of the Small Business Assistance Task Force, the council extended the current OpenBH program until December 31, 2021, and voted to hold a meeting in September to consider making some aspects of the program permanent.

OpenBH was established in June to help local businesses - from restaurants to retail to salons - move outside due to severe restrictions, if not outright bans, on any indoor activities. The program expanded in July to include lane closures on some streets if the majority of businesses in the area approve. The normally $800 permit fee normally required to block off public space are waived, and permits are renewed every 30 days.

City staff estimate that the program has cost the city about $1.5 million in traffic control and lost revenue from permit fees and parking meters, but councilmembers said that it has been well worth the cost.

“This is the silver lining in a very ugly cloud,” said Councilmember Julian Gold. “We really did create a vibrancy and sense of community that we had talked about but not been able to do.”

“We have now created something that we have been longing to do for many years, which was create that sense of vibrancy and a buzz. In terms of some of the most famous cities in Europe that have this, we now have this,” said Vice Mayor Lili Bosse. “What we found is that this has really made Beverly Hills even more of a destination and location for people to dine, to shop, and to walk.”

As Bosse pointed out, local businesses have also appreciated the program. The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce conducted an online poll and found that 18 out of 22 restaurants rated the OpenBH program anywhere from eight to ten out of ten in terms of value to their restaurant, and 22 out of 23 rated it as a nine or ten out of ten in terms of value to the community. During Tuesday’s council meeting, Barbara Lazaroff of Spago, Murray Fischer of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, and Heather Hassler of StarPoint Properties all voiced enthusiastic support for extending the program. Nearly all respondents to the online Chamber of Commerce poll said they wanted to see the OpenBH program expanded indefinitely.

The council will examine this proposal in September. In order to keep the program going indefinitely, councilmembers agreed that they will need to figure out how to make some of the lost money back, make the parklets safer, and streamline the aesthetics.

“I would really like us to have a conversation around how do we make them safer, because some of them are pretty tight in the public spaces, and while it kind of works now when traffic isn’t so great, when we get busier I do want to make sure that whatever we do in the public right of way creates a level of safety we’re all comfortable with,” said Gold. “And obviously when things return to normal, we really have to understand what the economics are in the longer term, and if this is a gonna be a benefit to the city going forward, and what this looks like in a way that is fair to all of our businesses.”

The vote came during Beverly Hills Small Business Week, which started Monday and ends Friday. The week was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and was designed to promote small businesses, which make up around 85 to 90% of the businesses in the city, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Small Business Week featured promotions like Takeout Tuesday, webinars and online conferences about the position of small businesses. It kicked off the Beverly Hills Shop Local, Get Local Campaign, which lasts throughout the month of May. Anyone who spends $200 in Beverly Hills during the month of May can send their receipts to mybeverlyhills@beverlyhillschamber.com to be entered into a drawing to win a $100 prize.

Related coverage:

Beverly Hills Expands OpenBH Program | Beverly Hills, CA Patch