Teen Road Hangout May Be Barricaded

The party may be over at the secluded end of a Woodland Hills cul-de-sac, a popular hangout for teenagers who apparently caused several brush fires in the nearby hills.

At the request of residents on Azucena Road, Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski has proposed installing a gate across the road’s end, past the last home on the street. A small portion of the road extends beyond the houses.

The council on Tuesday agreed to study the feasibility of the proposal, provided the affected property owners assumed all costs of installing the gate.

“We’re trying to deal with what really amounts to a community sore thumb in the only realistic way, which is to limit access to the people who live there,” said Glenn Barr, a Miscikowski deputy. The proposed barricade would block people from parking at the end of the street.

The councilwoman has received complaints about teenagers drinking, making noise, painting graffiti, and causing fires at the spot, a ridgeline that affords a panoramic view of the Valley.

Mike Littleton, a Fire Department battalion chief in Woodland Hills, said teens apparently started three blazes there last summer, each of which burned about two acres of brush. No one was hurt and no property damaged in the fires.

“We speculated that it was probably a cigarette tossed on the side of the hill,” Littleton said. “It could have been very serious.”