Controversial hotel and housing complex approved in West Hollywood

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A controversial housing and hotel complex that will stand out on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood got the go-ahead from the City Council.Saying their hands were tied by state laws mandating more housing construction, West Hollywood officials earlier this month denied an appeal to stop the seven-story mixed-use project at 7811 Santa Monica Blvd., a stretch of the busy thoroughfare filled with one-story commercial buildings.Local developer Faring plans to build the Bond Hotel & Residences, which will include a seven-story hotel with 45 rooms and a four-story apartment building with 126 units.The space will include a ground-floor restaurant and parking garage.Twenty of the apartments are to be designated affordable for very low-income and moderate-income tenants, which forced the city to approve the project, some leaders said.“I felt like I had to vote yes when I really wanted to vote no,” Planning Commissioner Rogerio Carvalheiro said in February after casting his vote to approve the project, WeHoOnline reported.

“And it just sucks.”West Hollywood public documents on the environmental impact of the Bond Hotel & Residences said the project “would accommodate the need for additional housing in the city and the County of Los Angeles, including affordable housing while supporting the economic vitality of the city.”The environmental impact report also recognized “the housing crisis that exists in California” as demonstrated by the recent adoption of state laws that restrict cities’ ability to deny housing projects, such as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which was strengthened by later bills.At the City Council hearing this month, Mayor John Heilman said the city lacks authority when its zoning laws are not in alignment with California state laws, Beverly Press & Park La Brea News reported.“I do have some concerns about this project,” Heilman s...