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Takeaways:
- Real estate “open house” signs are not allowed in Beverly Hills.
- Some Realtors and residents would like to make it possible to promote the sale of homes in Beverly Hills through signage.
- The Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to change current regulations. On July 21, 2015, a group of Realtors and residents will meet with City Council members about the issue.
In Beverly Hills, maintaining a home’s beauty and class is of the utmost importance. That’s why the city has strict regulations in place to ensure that no tacky signage gets in the way of the lavish homes that line each block in this upscale community.
According to the Beverly Hills Sign Ordinance, it is illegal to post, display or maintain a real estate sign on any public property or public right of way, and there are some specific rules real estate agents have to follow in order to have signage on the properties actually listed for sale:
- Only one sign can be publicly displayed in a home’s yard.
- It can be no larger than 150 square inches, including riders.
- Signs must be at least 10 feet away from the street line unless there is a hedge, slope or shrubbery within 10 feet of the street, in which case the sign can be placed in front of the blockage.
These guidelines are too much for some in Beverly Hills. Realtors and residents are banding together to make it possible to properly promote the sale of Beverly Hills homes without interfering with the aesthetic of the neighborhood so many homeowners and prospective buyers seek.
Facebook page for the group
In a city where the median single-family home value as of July was reported at $4.97 million, it’s hard to state whether the sign ordinance has had a negative impact on the local market.
But according to the “Change the Beverly Hills Real Estate Sign Ordinance” Facebook page, the local housing market is being hampered. Comments by proponents of the ordinance’s changes have been posted to the group, stating that the ordinance makes it difficult for sellers to find a buyer, negatively impacts property values and causes the city to lose revenue.
One commenter, Rochelle Maize, posted on the Facebook page, “I feel the city is losing revenues by the agents not being able to advertise. No one that is a visitor knows about open houses in Beverly Hills. It’s such a shame!”
Of course, probably not very many Beverly Hills visitors are able to afford a home there.
The coalition announced July 15 that it had full support of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, which voted unanimously to change current regulations. The group’s issue was placed as a “B” priority for the City Council, but proponents are eagerly trying to get it reprioritized as an “A” priority alongside water conservation initiatives and repaving Santa Monica Boulevard.
The group will be meeting with the City Council today in hopes of being able to provide more opportunities for Beverly Hills home sellers to market their homes.
