Outcome of ‘90210’ Dispute Hinges on Zoning Laws : Hermosa Beach: A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 21 to determine whether filming of the TV show violates codes prohibiting business activity in residential areas.

When a group of Hermosa Beach residents filed suit to block “Beverly Hills, 90210” from filming at a beachfront apartment complex, they drew fire from business leaders who assert that such opposition is driving the movie and TV industry out of state.

But the controversy has now come down to a less earth-shattering issue: zoning laws. Torrance Superior Court Commissioner Abraham Gorenfeld says the residents’ group must prove at a Sept. 21 hearing that production of the series violates city codes that prohibit most business activity in residential areas.

“That (the) filming activity is a financial advantage to the city does not justify or permit a violation of the zoning ordinance,” Gorenfeld wrote after a hearing in the case earlier this month.

In their lawsuit, the Hermosa Beach residents argue that the “90210” filming at a home at the northern tip of the Strand takes up parking spaces and creates too much noise for their neighborhood.

The city zoning code allows for residential businesses, but only when they belong to the occupants of the homes where they are located. City officials and representatives of the state film commission worry that if “Beverly Hills, 90210” is ousted from Hermosa Beach on zoning grounds, similar attempts might be used to stop filming in other cities.

“We didn’t think this would come down to splitting hairs over zoning,” said Patti Archuletta, director of the California Film Commission. “This might create a terrible opening (for anti-filming efforts).”

At the very least, barring the series could force the show’s writers to alter story lines, adding unspecified additional costs to the show’s budget, producers say.

New “90210” episodes will begin airing in September. By the time of the Sept. 21 hearing, characters Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth), Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) and David Silver (Brian Austin Green) will have rented the beachfront apartment.

Hermosa Beach resident Jim Hamilton, an attorney representing residents in the suit, denies that the group’s intent is to drive film production out of Hermosa. The goal, he says, is simply to ensure that production companies comply with zoning laws in the same way that other businesses do.

Enforcing city regulations, Hamilton says, by no means puts Hermosa off-limits to filming.

“This case addresses filming on residential property,” Hamilton said Friday. “It doesn’t address filming on public property, which they are free to do. We are not challenging that.”

Most of the apartment scenes are shot on a sound stage, but producers use the Strand location for footage of the beach and ocean. City officials say the series has been filmed at the site with few disruptions, and that producers have shuttled cast and crew members from parking lots in the city’s commercial district.

Under the conditions of its city permit, the show limits its use of the Hermosa location to a maximum of two shooting days per month, between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The City Council, which split 3 to 2 in granting the permit for the show, could change its zoning laws to allow for such filming. Amendments to that effect already have been made in Los Angeles and other cities, Archuletta said.

“But not all cities have done that,” she said. “It might be the very thing that slams the door (in) the industry’s face.”