The Beverly Hills Planning Commission at its Feb. 12 meeting approved a request for a conditional use permit (CUP) to allow the ongoing operation of a car rental facility at 499 N. Canon Drive.
According to the applicant, Falcon Car Rental has been operating on the fourth floor of the building without the necessary permits since 2015. A code enforcement complaint was filed against the company in December 2024, and the company began its permit application process approximately one month later.
Falcon Car Rental is a digital platform specializing in luxury vehicles. Clients reserve cars online which are then picked up on site or delivered to an off-site location. According to the applicant, over 90% of customers complete reservations online, and 60% to 70% of cars are delivered off site.
Rental vehicles are parked in nine designated spaces on the upper level of the building. The company also has three parking spaces on the lower level of the building which are used for both rental vehicles and employee parking. The applicant estimates that vehicle exchanges currently take place approximately three times per day.
Employees are provided parking on-site and are prohibited from parking in residential neighborhoods north of Santa Monica Boulevard. Customer check-in takes place on the fourth floor.
Cars are cleaned and prepared for rental off-site in locations in West Hollywood and Los Angeles. The facility does not conduct sales, maintenance, repairs or test drives at the Canon Drive site.
The facility will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekend days.
No changes are being sought to the parking or building structure under the CUP.
At the Feb. 12 meeting, several commissioners expressed their dismay that the business had been operating for so long without the necessary permits.
“I’m appalled that a business was operating for 10 years without a CUP,” said Commissioner Myra Demeter. “It is not the responsibility of the city to inform you, as I heard it does when you take out a business license, et cetera. It is the business owner’s responsibility. So, I do hold you responsible for it. I think you’re running a very good business, I’m happy that I can support it and continue it, but I think that you have to take responsibility, not just say, ‘I didn’t know.'”
Commissioner Gary Ross, while echoing other commissioners’ disappointment that the business was out of compliance for so long, voiced his support for the company and the efforts made by the owners.
“I think it’s for the greater good that we support our businesses in Beverly Hills,” he said. “I think the applicant is in good faith when he says that he didn’t realize that a conditional use permit was required; he was probably too busy building his business and, again, doing something for the greater good.”
According to city staff, the business will not face any additional penalties for having operated without permits because it moved forward with trying to attain compliance after the 2024 complaint was filed.
In other business, the commission voted to renew a CUP, development plan review and extended hours permit associated with the restaurant and open-air dining on the ground floor of the Avalon Hotel.
The hotel currently features a restaurant, bar, cabanas and open-air dining which are all open to the public. The open-air dining area is located in a courtyard at the center of the hotel alongside an outdoor pool, all of which is fully enclosed by the hotel building.
The restaurant, which operates from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, features 40 indoor seats and 74 outdoor seats across six cabanas and six tables.
Two enforcement codes have been opened against the hotel since its most recent renewal in May 2022. One involved delivery trucks that were parked in metered parking spaces or double-parked in the street, and the case was closed after it was discovered that the alley where the trucks typically make deliveries was being resurfaced at the time of the complaint.
The second case involved a complaint about deliveries parking in the street. That case was closed upon an investigation which did not reveal any violations.
During their deliberation, commissioners expressed their support for the hotel and its operations and offerings.
“This remains one of the very special places in our city, and I hope that in approving this conditional use permit we will ensure your continued presence,” said Commissioner Terri Kaplan.
Chair Jeff Wolfe voiced his appreciation for the attention paid to complaints lodged against the hotel in the past.
“I want to thank you … for how diligently you were willing and able to follow up on the issues that were raised with respect to the delivery trucks, and of course trust that you will continue to be just as diligent in the next few years after approval of this,” he said.
