BH-Medical Use Conversion Guide-2023
The City has passed certain restrictions and requirements governing medical use facilities in Beverly Hills.
Medical Overlay Zone
The City of Beverly Hills regulates the operation and establishment of medical uses in commercial areas of the City through the medical use ordinance, which was passed in 2011 by the City Council. The medical use ordinance allows continued operation of existing, legal medical uses, but property owners wishing to add or expand medical uses are required to apply for a medical use overlay zone for their property. In addition, existing buildings that already have legal medical uses may convert up to 6,000 square feet of commercial office use to medical use if certain conditions are met. Medical Use Overlay Zone applications are initially reviewed by the Planning Commission, with final decisions made by the City Council.
Medical uses also require a different amount of parking than general commercial spaces in the City of Beverly Hills, and there are specific prohibitions on medical uses on the ground floor of businesses.
More information about the medical use overlay zone can be found in the Beverly Hills Zoning Code in Article 18.5, and the ordinance can be found here (Medical Use Ordinance).
For information on Building Permits, please click here.
For additional information, or if you have specific questions, please click on the Medical Use Conversion Guide below or contact a Planner at (310) 285-1141 or cdplanning@beverlyhills.org.
Medical Use Overlay Zone - Filing Procedures
Document Submittal Requirements
MEDICAL BUILDING REGISTRATION PROGRAM
To implement the regulations of the medical use ordinance, the City of Beverly Hills created a Medical Building Registration program. The window to apply for registration has now closed, and a current list of registered medical buildings (updated 6/14/2021) is linked below. As noted on the list, the amount of medical floor area within a building may vary and inclusion on the list is not intended to mean that the entire building may be occupied by medical uses. Please contact the Planning Division at 310-285-1141 or cdplanning@beverlyhills.org for more information the amount of medical floor area registered for a particular building.
List of Registered Medical Buildings
RECENT UPDATE TO THE MEDICAL ORDINANCE
The City Council recently adopted the Medical Ordinance (Ordinance No. 22-O-2864) on September 20, 2022 (effective on October 21, 2022), which is intended to replace the Medical Urgency Ordinance that was enacted in 2020 and allowed the conversion of existing commercial spaces to office space. The new ordinance contains regulations that are mostly the same as the Urgency Ordinance. A summary of the regulations is below, with regulations that differ from the Urgency Ordinance italicized.
- Conversion of existing commercial space to medical is allowed, and new medical space in newly constructed buildings is allowed, through the issuance of a building permit, upon meeting the following criteria:
- property is located in the C-3, C-3T-1, C-3T-2, C-3T-3, C-R-PD, C-R, C-3A, C-3B, or E-O-PD zones
- medical uses may not be located on the ground floor
- parking is required for medical uses at a rate of 1 parking space per 350 SF of floor area, which is the same parking requirement as general commercial/retail (this essentially allows medical uses to occupy existing commercial spaces without triggering the need for more parking at this time)
- no "specialty clinics" (as defined in BHMC section 10-3-1604.5) are permitted. This generally prohibits new surgery centers, but a maximum of one operating room that is no more than 10% of the overall floor area of the suite is allowed, but not precluding an operating room that is up to 250 square feet in size
- Requirements for medical building permit
- the active lease and business tax license are no longer required for building permit submittal
- for conversion - a floor plan for the medical suite, showing the floor areas and uses of each room
- for new medical/TI - normal requirements would apply
- A review of the ordinance by Council will be required in 3 years from the date it was adopted
Please contact the Planning Division at (310) 285-1141 or cdplanning@beverlyhills.org with any questions about these regulations and how to start the conversion process.
