Mulholland Wall Stays, but Ocean Views Will Improve : Benedict Canyon: L.A. panel votes to require the builder to replace most of the solid masonry barrier with wrought-iron bars. The opponents aren’t satisfied.

A 330-foot-long security wall obstructing views of the Pacific Ocean along Mulholland Drive will remain part of the scenery although it will have to be altered in response to complaints.

The city Board of Public Works voted 3 to 0 Friday to require developer Brian Adler to replace most of the solid masonry wall with wrought-iron bars, allowing passersby a view of the ocean as well as the exclusive subdivision that Adler is building. Opponents had asked the board to order the wall torn down.

The compromise, which had been offered by City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, upset environmental activists who said the wall will continue to prevent pedestrians, cyclists and motorists from enjoying unobstructed views and inhibit vital wildlife movement in the Santa Monica Mountains.

“I know no one’s happy with this,” said board President Felicia Marcus, who got a letter urging removal of the wall from actor Jack Nicholson.

“People are really being robbed” of a visual “treasure that belongs to the citizens of Los Angeles,” said Laura Cohen, a top aide to state Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), who spoke at Friday’s lengthy hearing.

But Ginny Kruger, an aide to Yaroslavsky, called the board action “an excellent compromise” that “helps restore a breathtaking view” of the city from Mulholland.

The wall is located on the city’s right of way in Yaroslavsky’s district at the top of Benedict Canyon.

Adler, developer of the 64-plot Beverly Park Estates project, smiled after the vote and said: “We accomplished our goal and defended our property rights.”

Foes of the wall will take a second shot at bringing it down Monday when the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy state parks agency will consider using its power of eminent domain to buy and tear down the wall.

Adler and environmental activists have clashed for nearly two years over the wall.

The wall was built under a city permit that could be revoked if it was determined to have been improperly issued or no longer in the best interests of the city, said Deputy City Atty. Chris Westhoff.

Westhoff warned, however, that the city could be sued if the permit were withdrawn.

Attorneys for Adler also told the board that their client could sue in that event.

Shortly after the wall was erected, environmentalists cried foul, saying that the structure was not built as planned and approved by the city.

But Westhoff and officials from the city’s Bureau of Engineering said Friday that Adler’s wall did not violate the terms of the permit.

Even the developer admitted, however, that the completed wall was different in design than the one approved by the Mulholland Citizens Advisory Committee, a panel appointed to review construction within the Mulholland Drive scenic corridor.

Although the wall is six feet high, as approved, more of the wall is solid masonry and less of it wrought iron than the committee had expected.

Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, urged the board to revoke the permit for the wall.

“Take the wall off public property and put it below the roadway and you’ll solve the problem,” Edmiston said.

But Jim Hughes, Adler’s attorney, said moving the wall farther down the steep slope would cause security problems because it would be easy to climb over.

Under the new conditions, the masonry portion of the wall must be no more than 1 1/2 feet high and the wrought iron that tops it no more than 4 1/2 feet high.

Additionally, the developer is required to bore holes into the base of the wall to allow small wildlife to pass through.

Adler said he did not know how much it would cost to modify the wall.