Studio City : City Vows to Modify Fence Around Park

The Los Angeles parks department will create more openings in a perimeter fence that was recently installed around Moorpark Park, a city official said Friday.

James N. Ward, the principal grounds maintenance supervisor for the Valley region, acknowledged that the department should have consulted the community before installing the fence, which has been criticized for making the park look uninviting and for impeding access to a biannual arts fair held at the park. The park is at the corner of Moorpark Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard.

“We made a mistake by not approaching the chamber of commerce or the homeowners’ group,” Ward said.

Ward and other parks officials met with neighbors and representatives from the Studio City Residents Assn., the Studio City Chamber and the Studio City Rotary Club--about a dozen people in all--Friday morning to discuss residents’ concerns about the imitation split-rail fence.

Patty Kirby, a board member of the residents group, said she would like the city to remove the fence, but realizes it would be difficult because the fence posts are secured in concrete and because of the high cost of installing the fence.

Community activists instead focused on getting more openings cut into the fence. Ward said the department will probably add four openings to the existing four in the fence, and that some of the openings would be added before the Rotary Club’s Fall Art Festival on Oct. 14 and 15.

The park improvement project--which also included a new irrigation system, drinking fountain and six picnic tables--cost $75,000. City recreation and parks officials said the fence was built to keep children who use the park from running into the street.

Bernward Thorsch, an organizer of the art festival, said it will be difficult for exhibitors and visitors alike to get in and out of the park with so few openings.

“It’s going to be a nightmare,” Thorsch said.