Conservancy to Erect Fence Around Hollywood Bowl Overlook

They’ve tried parking tickets, towing and security guards.

Now it’s time to try a fence.

That’s what Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy board members decided Tuesday when they voted to erect a 6-foot fence around the Hollywood Bowl overlook on Mullholland Drive. The board took the step after other attempts failed to discourage vandalism at scenic overlooks in the Hollywood Hills.

Joe Edmiston, the conservancy’s executive director, said the wrought-iron fence should keep most people out of the area after dark. But he cautioned that people with good and bad intentions will continue the decades-old tradition of hanging out at the overlooks along Mullholland after dark.

“As long as there is such a gorgeous view, people are going to want to go up there at night,” Edmiston said. The problems, he added, are “not going to go away, but it’s certainly going to make it better.”

James Meinel, a director of a neighborhood group called L.A. Overlook, said he was pleased that the conservancy has agreed to erect a fence estimated to cost about $40,000.

“We have a pretty strong commitment from the conservancy to try to rectify the problem and take steps that are imaginative and creative,” Meinel said.

The problems began in 1984 after the City of Los Angeles transformed three of Mulholland Drive’s turnouts into small parks. The overlooks annually attract thousands of tourists and local residents, who can see Los Angeles spill out beneath them. But at night, when the overlooks are supposed to be off limits, gangs and other rowdy visitors spray-paint graffiti and play loud music, authorities say.

The conservancy board was ready to approve erecting a fence around another overlook in Universal City, but the only resident from that area at the meeting suggested that the experiment should be tested at only one overlook.

While willing to explore all remedies, Edmiston complained that vandalism at the overlooks has been blown out of proportion.