Neighborhood to Get Gates, Not Barricades

Fire gates instead of steel post barricades will be used to block four intersections in a Sepulveda neighborhood to curtail drive-by drug traffic, city officials have said.

A spokesman for City Councilman Joel Wachs said city officials and apartment owners opted for the three-foot-high gates, similar to those used to block parking lot entrances, after Los Angeles firefighters said the posts would be difficult to remove in an emergency.

The decision came about three months after police set up temporary sawhorse barricades in an emergency effort to stop severe drug trafficking. Wachs’ deputy, Richard Kunz, said apartment owners in the 12-square-block Columbus Avenue neighborhood will request a building permit for gates this week from the city Bureau of Engineering. The property owners will pay for the gates, but the cost has not yet been determined, Kunz said. The city will maintain the gates, he said.