In Woodland Hills, Preservationist Spirit Is Shining Through

The organizational meeting of the Woodland Hills Preservation Society on Monday was illuminating.

First there was the unusually captive audience--those attending were chained together around a lamppost at the corner of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Dumetz Road.

And there was the unusually quick approval of the agenda--less than an hour after the meeting ended, Los Angeles city officials were hurriedly promising to pay close attention to the new group’s first recommendation.

The fledgling society’s suggestion is simple: The city should drop its plan to replace two dozen old-fashioned street lamps along a 16-block section of Topanga in Woodland Hills.

City officials announced Friday that the 63-year-old globe-topped poles will be replaced starting in mid-August with 74 modern street-light fixtures. The $138,500 project is to boost the amount of light on the busy boulevard while reducing maintenance costs and electricity safety hazards, officials said.

But some Woodland Hills residents took a dim view of the announcement.

‘Quaint Town’

“They look old and we like it,” said homeowner Joe Molina. “For God’s sake, this is not Century City or a new development like West Hills. Those lights add to the neighborhood and the sense of a quaint town.

“Taking these lights out of the neighborhood would be like taking the frame off a painting.”

The fixtures were installed between 1923 and 1926 by Victor Giraud, the original subdivider of Woodland Hills. They have been retrofitted to use the same efficient and bright high-pressure sodium bulbs that newer poles use, said another resident, John Shugrue.

“I just came back from my mother’s house in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where they have gone out and installed light poles like these all over,” Shugrue said. “There’s a town that’s trying to preserve and serve, not tear everything down.”

Resident Bill Brady hastily gathered a few others at the corner Monday afternoon to demonstrate their concern. They wrapped themselves in a 10-foot chain and locked it to one of the threatened old poles, pledging that the tactic would be used if city crews showed up to rip down the lights.

“This is the first meeting of the Woodland Hills Preservation Society,” Brady proclaimed. He predicted that the community’s few remaining original street lamps are likely to be quickly yanked once those on Topanga disappear. They include four on Dumetz, 21 on Commercio Avenue and 14 on Ventura Boulevard.

As the group unchained itself, passer-by Rhonda Walance hurried over. “Where do I sign the petition? I love these old lights,” she said to Shugrue. “I’m tired of new places like Warner Center, where things are getting out of control.”

Can Be Repaired

City officials, who became aware of the objections Monday, quickly vowed to forget about the new lights if there is heavy community support for the old ones. They said cracks, which have made the 5,000-volt systems potentially dangerous, can be repaired in some poles.

“If people want to object, now’s the time,” said Glenn Barr, a spokesman for City Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents the area. Barr said that the new lights seem like a good idea but that “if there’s enough opposition, we’ll listen.”

George Teal, associate city street-lighting engineer, said it’s not too late for residents to save their lights.

“It will be the end of it if the council office doesn’t approve of the project,” Teal said. “If there is sufficient adverse reaction, we wouldn’t proceed.”