After a months-long process that started in July, the City Council passed an ordinance to amend parts of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code involving affordable housing. City planners have been working on the ordinance since the Planning Commission recommended changes be made to the occupancy priority standards for affordable housing units. These standards determine who is next in line to receive housing based on factors such as age, income and location of work. Over the course of the last few months, city planners have been drafting the ordinance with the help of public comment, examples from neighboring cities and commission feedback before it was presented for a first reading at a meeting on Oct. 10. At a meeting on Nov. 7, city planners recommended waiving the second reading and urged the council to adopt it as is. They approved it as part of the consent calendar in a unanimous vote.
Under the amended code, income-restricted affordable housing units will be offered to households who meet the income requirements in the order of tiers one through four. The first tier includes existing occupants, who are the top priority. After them, the second tier includes households that have been displaced within the city in the past 10 years in the following order:
