The Council hereby finds that Beverly Hills is internationally known and has become a worldwide synonym for beauty, quality, and value; that by far the largest area of the community is zoned for single-family residences, but a significant part is zoned for apartment, commercial, and industrial uses; that most persons who travel through Beverly Hills or do business in and with Beverly Hills do so in its apartment, commercial, and industrial areas; that there is a tendency of some owners and developers in these areas to disregard beauty and quality in construction and a consequent serious danger that construction of inferior quality and appearance in the apartment, commercial, and industrial areas will degrade and depreciate the image, beauty, and reputation of Beverly Hills with adverse consequences for the entire City, including single-family residential areas as well as apartment, commercial, and industrial areas; and that poor quality of design in the exterior appearance of buildings erected in any neighborhood or in the development and maintenance of structures, landscaping, signs, and general appearances affect the desirability of the immediate area and neighboring areas for residential and business purposes or other uses and, by so doing, impair the benefits of occupancy of existing property in such areas, impair the stability in value of both improved and unimproved real property in such areas, prevent the most appropriate development of such areas, produce undesirable conditions affecting the health, safety, comfort, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City, and destroy the proper relationship between the taxable value of real property in such areas and the cost of Municipal services provided therefor. It is the purpose of this article to prevent these and other harmful effects of such exterior appearances of buildings erected in any neighborhood and thus to promote and protect the health, safety, comfort, and general welfare of the community, to promote the public convenience and prosperity, to conserve the value of buildings, and to encourage the most appropriate use of land within the City. (Ord. 1223, eff. 3-1-1966)