BEVERLY HILLS—The first ballot count update after Beverly Hills’ special election on Tuesday, May 23 shows the majority of voters are currently not in favor of the billion-dollar Cheval Blanc hotel project on Rodeo Drive.
Residents of Beverly Hills cast their ballots on two measures that would accept or reverse the Beverly Hills City Council’s approval of plans for LVMH’s Cheval Blanc hotel. The hotel would stand nine stories tall and feature up to 115 rooms, a 500-member private club, and restaurant and retail uses on an approximately 1.28-acre site in the northern portion of the business triangle.
As of Friday, May 26, 50.88 percent voted no on Measure B, which would approve zoning code changes for the size of the hotel, while 49.12 percent voted yes. On Measure C, which details tax agreements with LVMH, 50.89 percent voted no, and 49.11 percent voted yes.
Voters opposing the hotel are currently in the lead by 123 votes on Measure B and 125 votes on Measure C.
According to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan, the total election results count is now 7,028.
Approximately 135 remaining ballots are “pending signature cures from voters whose signature was missing on the Return Envelope or did not match their registration record.” Once the ballots are cured they will be added to the official count.
The special election was initiated due to a referendum created by Unite Here Local 11, a union group that seeks to protect hospitality workers in Los Angeles. The union collected enough signatures to force the election to take place. Unite Here Local 11 opposed the project due to the lack of Beverly Hills’ affordable housing.
Residents Against Overdevelopment, a grassroots group, says the hotel would cause “unbearable traffic and congestion to little Santa Monica and the Triangle,” and lack of “adequate parking” would force guests to use “much needed parking in the city.”
“We oppose the monolithic Cheval Blanc Hotel project because it is just too big and tall for our village. It goes up to 9 stories in height, instead of the allowed three stories, and has more than twice the allowed density,” the Residents Against Overdevelopment website states.
Beverly Hills Mayor Julian Gold says Beverly Hills has “lost an incredible addition to Rodeo Drive that would have provided additional funding for vital city services.”
Jessica Miller, a spokesperson from LVMH, addressed the outlook of the ballot update on Friday stating:
“If the final vote count confirms the voters’ rejection of our project, we will respect the outcome and will not bring the hotel project back in any form.”
Another ballot update is set for Tuesday, May 30, and the final results of the special election will be determined June 2.
By Paige Strickland