Builder Agrees to Cut Bigger Window in Wall Blocking Vistas : Mulholland Drive: Dubbed the ‘great white monster,’ the 6-foot-high barrier has drawn protests from motorists, residents and environmentalists.

A Mulholland Drive developer whose white stucco wall blocks motorists’ panoramic vistas has agreed to enlarge a viewer-friendly window of wrought-iron bars on the structure.

The 6-foot-high wall, which borders 600 feet of the scenic hilltop corridor in Studio City, sparked protests from drivers, homeowners and environmentalists when it was erected this summer by developer Brian Adler as security for estates in exclusive North Beverly Park.

Adler obtained city permits to build the wall, dubbed by some the “Great Wall of China” and “the great white monster.”

However, in an effort to appease the locals, Adler agreed to enlarge bar windows that run along 130 feet of the wall from three to four feet in height so that passersby can catch glimpses of hillside chaparral.

“We have said we are willing to do whatever we can to make sure there isn’t unhappiness,” Adler said. He is also considering extending the length of grillwork on sections of the wall that sit on the public right of way, as Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky has requested.

Yaroslavsky wants the bar windows to restore views of Century City, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the ocean. When he visited the wall, he said, he was forced to climb on top of a 2-foot-high guardrail to see beyond the structure.

Adler has agreed to pay for the work, the cost of which has not yet been determined. Yaroslavsky, however, said he would look into the possibility of using city funds to help defray the cost because Adler is not at fault for building the wall.

The Department of Public Works granted a permit for the wall with the approval of the Mulholland Scenic Parkway Citizens Advisory Committee, a group that assists the City Council in issues regarding the area.

But the committee gave the go-ahead in the mistaken belief that the bar windows would be four feet high instead of three feet, officials said.

Richard Reiss, president of the advisory committee, said he was pleased with the new agreement.

“We’re tickled pink with it,” he said.

But others--who contend that the wall blocks a crossing point used by bobcats, mountain lions and other wildlife--said they wanted further concessions.

“That’s not good enough for us,” said Judy Marx with the L.A. Urban Wilderness Coalition. “We want that wall down.” Marx has planned a rally at the wall on Saturday.

Alan Kishbaugh, vice president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., said he would prefer that the wall be moved back from the road and down an incline so that it is no longer visible.

“The wall certainly suddenly made our lives horrible,” Kishbaugh said. “I don’t think it belongs there.”