The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
DOESN’T DISCRIMINATE
Vanderpump Rules stars Katie Maloney and Ariana Madix have seen the opening of their WeHo sandwich shop, Something About Her, delayed for over a year due to permitting. “At this point, we’re permit-approved, but we’re just waiting for physical copies,” Maloney told The Messenger on Jan. 17. “We’re like all the other people waiting on them.”
Whether you are a mogul attempting to renovate your $20 million beach house in Malibu, reality stars trying to open a little sandwich shop in West Hollywood, or just one of those “other people” trying to remodel your bathroom, the red tape involved with getting building permits in Los Angeles can set your project back years. “It’s getting worse by the month,” says Santiago Arana of The Agency. “You used to wait for four to six months for a permit, and now you need to wait a year.” Backlogs from COVID, stringent environmental measures like the controversial proposed Wildlife Ordinance, and ever-evolving codes add to the red tape. In Malibu, some people wait up to three years for their plans to be approved. And in December, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin issued an order that blocked any permits in Beverly Hills that are not for new housing (a response to the town’s refusal to plan for affordable housing). Are we living in a hellish bureaucracy? Perhaps. But unlike many places where who you know and what you are willing to pay might get you a faster track, experts in Los Angeles say ours is at least egalitarian. According to Jason Somers of Crest Real Estate: “There is no secret sauce or ingredient to expediting the municipal process.”