7 Landmark Bungalows to Be Razed for Picnic Space : Supervisors: The board votes over the objections of preservationists to remove half of a onetime artists colony.

A plan to eliminate seven of 14 landmark bungalows to create more picnic spaces near the Hollywood Bowl was approved Thursday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Over the objections of preservationists and local community leaders, the supervisors voted to preserve seven of the Highland-Camrose Bungalow Village structures and demolish the rest.

Supervisor Ed Edelman told those attending a hearing in the Hall of Administration that the county needs “more green space” for picnickers attending Hollywood Bowl functions, some of whom he said now “have to picnic on the asphalt.”

“I’m disappointed the county feels that picnic benches are more important than historic monuments,” Ron Max, leader of the effort to save the 75-year-old complex, said after the vote. But he vowed to continue efforts to save the buildings.

The rustic bungalow village, which housed artists, musicians and actors in the early days of Hollywood, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Los Angeles city monument. County officials said neither designation can legally prevent demolition.

Preservation experts noted that the entire hillside setting, not just the bungalows’ Craftsman-style architecture, was a major factor in the site’s landmark status. Teresa Grimes of the Los Angeles Conservancy told the supervisors that tearing down half of the bungalows was “like if you were to destroy half of Olvera Street. It obviously wouldn’t be the same.”

State Office of Preservation official Maryln Bourne Lortie said later that if half of the bungalows are demolished, her office will recommend that the National Register drop the site.

However, Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, said he supported the county plan because it was “the best compromise.”

The county cannot afford to save all of the bungalows, Edelman said: “We don’t have the money, at a time when we have people who are mentally ill not getting treatment, and people who are sick not getting treatment.”

However, Max testified: “If it’s a question of money, money from outside is available.” As an example, he noted, the Hollywood chapter of the International Animated Film Society was willing to restore two of the seven threatened bungalows, as a way of saving them to use as offices and a museum.

But Edelman responded that such groups should contribute to the surviving seven bungalows. “We appreciate the help,” he said.

The $2.6-million cost of the project will be paid from state bond funds, officials said.

The county moved to acquire the bungalow site in 1986 after a developer planned to build apartments there. The aim was to create more picnic facilities, Edelman said. “The justification was not simply to save the bungalows.”

To allay local concerns over increased noise and traffic, Edelman said he would ask county officials to reconsider plans to widen Camrose Drive near the site, and to be sure that walls and shrubbery are installed as a noise barrier when low-income apartment buildings are also torn down for the new picnic area.

Newly elected Supervisor Gloria Molina inquired whether relocation assistance was available for the approximately 60 displaced tenants, most of whom have already left, and county officials said it was. Molina also asked if the county required construction of replacement housing in such instances, and when she was told it was not a requirement, Molina replied: “Not yet.”