Beverly Hills Adjusts Mask Rules
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BEVERLYPRESS.COM INSIDE • Schools consider graduations pg. 3 Sunny, with • Police warn of highs in the package thefts 90s pg. 4 Volume 30 No. 17 Serving the Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hancock Park and Wilshire Communities April 23, 2020 Beverly Hills adjusts mask rules Project’s plan towers n City Council also looks at looming fiscal over Hollywood n issues Project height dwarfs Capitol Records Building BY CAMERON KISZLA BY EDWIN FOLVEN other 35 stories – along with two 11-story mid-rise buildings. It will On April 21, the Beverly Hills The Los Angeles Department of house 1,005 residential units, of City Council focused on the city’s City Planning opened the public which 872 will be market-rate response to the coronavirus pan- review period on April 16 for the units, and 133 will be for very low- demic by adjusting some of the Hollywood Center Project, a and extremely low-income seniors. rules put in place by emergency mixed-use development proposed MP Los Angeles plans to have the ordinances. for the area around the Capitol senior housing managed by the The most discussed issue was in Records Building by the same nonprofit Menorah Housing Foundation. regards to the city’s requirement photo courtesy of the city of Beverly Hills developer who previously proposed the Millennium Hollywood project. According to a project descrip- that people wear face coverings in Beverly Hills Park Rangers have been educating the public on the Developer MP Los Angeles has tion on the Los Angeles City public, an order that went into city’s face-covering requirement. effect on April 10. The council announced that the Hollywood Planning Department’s website, an debated how best to craft the ordi- Vice Mayor Robert Wunderlich a reasonable likelihood they will Center Project will be a 4.5-acre, option exists for the developer to nance to create safer behavior said. come into close proximity. mixed-use community built on sites alter plans for the site and include a from those in Beverly Hills while City staff proposed several “Everyone will have a mask currently occupied by parking lots 220-room hotel, which would result exempting certain people and situ- exemptions to the mask rules, around their neck as they’re walk- on both sides of Vine Street just in a lower number of market rate ations. including for children under the ing around, and if they see some- north of Hollywood Boulevard. apartments – 768 units. That option Council members said, in some age of 2, those with breathing one, they’ll put it up,” The Capitol Records Building will also includes an additional 116 cases, the ordinance may have problems and those who are trav- Councilwoman Lili Bosse said. be preserved. affordable units for seniors. gone too far. For instance, eling in their car by themselves or The council also chose to keep The project will include two Councilman John Mirisch and only with members of their house- in place some exemptions, such as buildings – one 46 stories and the See Nonprofit page 19 City Manager George Chavez hold, among others. for children under 2 years old, wore masks on the videoconfer- “At some point in time, the people undergoing medical and ence because they were at City exemptions swallow up the rule dental procedures, and those Hall, and even though they were … We’ve created a situation asked to remove the face covering alone in separate rooms, the ordi- where if anyone says ‘I can’t by law enforcement, but declined nance required them to wear breathe with a mask on,’ they’re to include the breathing problems masks. exempt,” Mayor Lester Friedman exemption, as well as others that “To me, the concept we’re try- said. were made unnecessary by the ing to achieve is to reduce trans- The council unanimously decid- change to the ordinance. mission. If you’re sitting in an ed to require masks in public only The council also discussed how office by yourself, you’re not when people encounter others out- going to transmit to anyone else,” side of their household and there’s See Residential page 18 Horvath chosen as new WeHo mayor n Meister defers mayor pro tempore position to photo by Edwin Folven Heilman The Hollywood Center Project is proposed on parking lots surrounding the Capitol Records Building, which will be preserved. BY JOSE HERRERA The West Hollywood City Council selected Mayor Pro From the publishers Tempore Lindsey Horvath to be the city’s next mayor during a City To our readers, Any donation amount to help Council meeting on April 20. offset our expenses, which “I’m honored to have been elect- During the coronavirus health include staff salaries, printing, ed unanimously by my peers to emergency, we at the Park Labrea distribution costs, rent and utili- serve as mayor,” Horvath said on News and Beverly Press are com- ties, would be greatly appreciat- Twitter. “I will have big shoes to mitted to continuing to print your ed. fill, and we have a tough road ahead local news every week at a time Once again, we thank YOU – with [COVID-19] emergency and when newspapers are experienc- our readers, for your support. We recovery, but I know – together – ing existential threats. We plan to promise to continue publishing we can do anything.” maintain our full staff without YOUR local newspaper every Council members also nominated photo courtesy of the city of West Hollywood furloughs or layoffs. Since 1946, week no matter what. Councilwoman Lauren Meister as West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore Lindsey Horvath will take over as the Park Labrea News and Donations can be sent through the next Mayor Pro Tempore, how- mayor next month. Beverly Press has covered our Venmo at Beverly Press, or can ever Meister asked Councilman communities with the highest be mailed to: Park Labrea John Heilman to step in because she own, over the next few months and Heilman agreed to serve as journalistic integrity. We have no News/Beverly Press, P.O. Box would like to focus her efforts on I would rather not have the cere- mayor pro tempore. plans to stop now. 36036, Los Angeles, CA 90036. helping rebuild the business com- monial activities that go along Horvath and Heilman will be To do this, however, we need munity, which is suffering due to the with being mayor pro tempore,” installed in their new positions on your help. Advertising revenues With gratitude, COVID-19 pandemic. Meister said. “I want to shift my May 18, which will allow city staff have dropped precipitously 50- “I’m going to be dealing with focus on rebuilding the business to prepare and facilitate the transi- 75%. With that reality, we humbly Michael and Karen Villalpando small businesses, including my community.” tion. ask for your financial support. Publishers 2 April 23, 2020 Park Labrea News/Beverly Press Beverly Hills council votes down street changes COVID-19 infections may be n Idea to open lanes for pedestrians and higher than earlier estimates cyclists fails USC and the Los Angeles extent of COVID-19 infections in County Department of Public our community because we have By Cameron Kiszla Health released preliminary only tested people with symp- results on April 20 from a collab- toms, and the availability of tests A proposal to close some street orative scientific study that sug- has been limited,” said lead lanes to car traffic to create more gests COVID-19 infections are investigator Neeraj Sood, a pro- room for pedestrians and bicyclists far more widespread – and the fessor of public policy at USC failed to garner enough support by fatality rate much lower – than Price School for Public Policy the Beverly Hills City Council on previously thought in Los and senior fellow at USC April 21 to be implemented. Angeles County. Schaeffer Center for Health The proposal by Vice Mayor The results are from the first Policy and Economics. “The esti- Robert Wunderlich proposed that round of an ongoing study by mates also suggest that we might altering some streets – such as USC researchers and county pub- have to recalibrate disease predic- South Santa Monica, Robertson, lic health officials. They will be tion models and rethink public Olympic and Wilshire boulevards, conducting antibody testing over health strategies.” among others – would provide two time on representative samples of The results have important benefits for the community, he adults countywide to determine implications for public health argued. Not only would walkers the scope and spread of the pan- efforts to control the epidemic, and cyclists have more room to demic across the county. public health authorities said. practice social distancing while Based on results of the first “These results indicate that exercising, he said, but drivers round of testing, the research many persons may have been would be more likely to slow team estimates that approximate- unknowingly infected and at risk down, which might help reduce the photo by Cameron Kiszla A proposal by Vice Mayor Robert Wunderlich to close some lanes on ly 4.1% of the county’s adult pop- of transmitting the virus to oth- rampant speeding reported in ulation has antibodies to the virus. ers,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, streets such as Wilshire Boulevard failed to garner enough support Beverly Hills and elsewhere. Adjusting this estimate for statis- director of the L.A. County The Beverly Hills city staff among his fellow City Council members. tical margin of error implies 2.8% Department of Public Health. report said Los Angeles to 5.6% of the county’s adult pop- “These findings underscore the Department of Transportation “If we can do something in a erated construction on Metro’s ulation has antibodies to the virus, importance of expanded poly- General Manager Seleta Reynolds which translates to approximately merase chain reaction testing to reported that L.A.