The 9600 Wilshire Boulevard Specific Plan project will move on to City Council after approval from the Planning Commission at its Aug. 14 meeting.
After nearly three hours of presentation, public hearing and deliberation, commissioners voted unanimously to approve staff’s recommendation to adopt the resolutions that would formally recommend the project to City Council for approval.
The project is part of Hudson’s Bay Company’s (HBC) plans for a two-block, mixed-use development at 9600 Wilshire Blvd. that includes the historic Saks Fifth Avenue property.
HBC—the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue—submitted revisions to the original plan in November after residents from the southwest neighborhood of Beverly Hills voiced their concerns about the project’s impact on traffic.
This is the fourth time a public hearing has been held for the proposed project. During its presentation, staff addressed follow-up items from the July 24 meeting and reviewed several resolutions.
During public comment at the commission’s last meeting, on July 24, speakers expressed concern related to labor and workforce practices, environmental review, traffic congestion, and the level of engagement between the applicant and the community. Commissioners decided that additional review was needed regarding land use, identification of potential vehicle pullout areas alongside Wilshire Boulevard, reduction of construction-related noise and projected traffic impact.
To address the concerns raised at the July 24 meeting, the commission brought back the plan for public hearing on Aug. 14 with several revisions to the conditions of approval and draft Specific Plan.
Staff addressed four follow-up issues that commissioners brought up at the last meeting. First, staff decided not to recommend vehicle pullout areas along Wilshire Boulevard because they would reduce sidewalk space and potentially violate the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. For additional noise mitigation, the applicant added a requirement to the Construction Management Plan for sound-dampening shields on mobile equipment that is stationary for extended periods. Regarding southbound turn restrictions, staff consulted with BHPD and confirmed these are enforceable with proper signage in the public right of way. To ensure compliance, they revised Condition 72 to explicitly require city-approved signage installation. Finally, the city’s traffic consultant, Fehr & Peers, prepared a supplemental trip generation memorandum. The analysis found that even if fewer total car trips are generated by the project, local residential streets could see more traffic.
Additional amendments were made to the plan’s conditions for clarification and consistency in the applicant’s use of language.
Douglas Adams, a representative for the project and senior vice president of development at Saks Global, assured the commission of maintaining dialogue with the southwest Beverly Hills neighborhood to improve existing traffic conditions.
“Over the past three hearings and two study sessions before that, we believe we have demonstrated this project is well-thought-out and will enhance the southwest neighborhood and the city overall,” said Adams.
President and CEO of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce Todd Johnson spoke on behalf of the chamber for its support for the plan.
“The chamber has supported this project from day one,” said Johnson. “Saks has been there [on Wilshire Boulevard], I believe, 85 years. The continuation of this project will ensure that it will be here another 85 years.”
Representatives from the Southwest Homeowners Association and others expressed concern with the project, including health and environmental risks, noise from construction, sign enforcement, labor practices and street closures.
During deliberations, Commissioner Gary Ross recognized the traffic concerns for southwest residents but was overall in favor of the project.
“Something has to go there to develop that area. It’s unsightly, it’s lying fallow, it’s not on-brand with our city, and what the applicant wants to do is very much not just on-brand but pays homage to the history of the Saks building there,” said Ross.
“This is a good project that in my opinion would enhance not just the entire city but the daily lived experience of those currently live in the southwest and those who will hopefully become new residents of the southwest,” said Commissioner Terri Kaplan. “That is not to say that I am not aware and empathetic to the significant impact that the current residents will experience as we potentially move forward with this.”
Commission Vice Chair Lou Milkowski sympathized with the complaints brought forth in previous meetings but believes that “the laundry list of conditions that we are proposing satisfies a lot of my concerns and hopefully a lot of concerns of our residents.”
Commission Chair Jeff Wolfe stated that the construction and traffic issues are the ones he’s had to overcome.
“I believe that the benefits of the project will outweigh the construction impacts,” said Wolfe, who spoke similarly about the traffic impacts.
“Cities have to move on, cities have to progress, and some of that is going to have negative impacts on certain elements and certain aspects of the city,” said Wolfe.
The fate of the project now lies in the hands of City Council, which will make the final decision on the two-block development that has sparked months of debate between supporters and concerned residents.
