Local News in Brief : Hotel Gets Liquor Permit

After a seven-hour public hearing, the Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals voted Tuesday night to issue the developers of the Ma Maison Sofitel Hotel a permit to sell alcoholic beverages on the premises.

By a 3-1 vote, the board agreed to issue the permit, provided that the developers come up with 118 additional parking spaces within the next three years. The board also voted to reduce occupancy levels by about 40% at the hotel’s restaurants, banquet facilities and meeting rooms until the additional parking is provided.

If developer Sheldon Gordon and his partners fail to meet the parking requirement, they will be prohibited from increasing the occupancy levels.

The 311-room luxury hotel, expected to open in August on Beverly Boulevard, across from the Beverly Center mall, will have a parking garage for 382 cars.

Neighbors claim the hotel needs hundreds of more spaces because of a severe parking shortage in the area. They characterized the board’s vote as a defeat, because it offers the neighborhood no guarantees of additional parking.