Runyon Canyon is getting $1-million bathrooms. Some locals fear it will ruin a Hollywood oasis

There was a time when Runyon Canyon Park was primarily visited by locals, a true wilderness oasis in the hills overlooking Hollywood’s bright lights.

But in the last few decades, it’s become one of Los Angeles’ most popular hiking destinations, with an estimated 2 million visitors a year. And yet, thousands of visitors each day have no access to a nearby bathroom.

That is set to soon change.

City officials are in the process of bringing a prefabricated restroom to the park, a nearly $1-million project that should be complete by next summer.

While the project was formally approved last year — after years of debate, surveys and public meetings — the planned bathroom project continues to draw concern from some locals. In the last few months, there has been renewed criticism of the project from Hollywood Hills’ residents, both because of its price tag and potentially negative repercussions.

A group called the Runyon Canyon Guardians is now calling for officials to halt the bathroom project, calling it “fiscally irresponsible” and a public safety impediment.

Anastasia Mann, president of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, said many residents who live near the project location are concerned that the permanent restrooms will bring unwelcome smells, attract homeless people and further increase foot traffic, potentially raising the risk of crime and fires — a recent issue in the park — and adding more environmental strain across its 160 acres.

Locals have worked hard to protect the park and keep it from becoming too overrun and commercialized, Mann said, explaining why so many have long opposed bathrooms. For years, the neighborhood council would poll members and found the vast majority were against adding bathrooms, she said.

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“Basically, everybody supported no bathrooms for quite a long time,” Mann said. But over time, she said, city leaders found growing support for the effort, both locally and from visitors across the city, and pushed forward with the plan for restrooms, approving the project in December.

And despite renewed opposition, the city hasn’t wavered on its plan.

“The Department of Recreation and Parks has received requests for years from hikers and park visitors for restrooms to be installed at Runyon Canyon Park,” a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass’ wrote in a statement. “The City of Los Angeles is committed to ensuring all of L.A.’s parks are safe, clean, accessible, and enjoyable for Angelenos and visitors alike.”

Bass’ office pointed out that the project was approved by the city’s Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners after significant community outreach and is not funded by the parks department’s general fund. The bathroom project’s $961,125 budget is funded by park fees and deferred maintenance funds, according to parks department records.

“Our office remains deeply committed to ensuring the safety of Runyon Canyon Park and the neighborhoods that surround it,” a spokesperson for Councilmember Nithya Raman said in a statement. Raman represents the community that includes Runyon Canyon Park.

Changes to Runyon Canyon Park have long drawn pushback from neighbors, enough so that residents in 2016 halted construction of a controversial basketball court in the park. The city also faced considerable backlash in 2006 while establishing the park’s first parking lot.

For a while, Mann said concern around the bathroom project had faded, but the “hullabaloo” resurfaced as the project started to move forward recently. A spokesperson for the parks department did not respond to questions about the project timeline, but a city official said it must be completed by next summer.

“Now they’re actually starting to do it, so the uproar has restarted,” Mann said. “There’s a new campaign against these bathrooms.”

She said opponents are also upset that the new bathrooms won’t be built at the site of exiting temporary bathrooms at a central spot in the park, but instead will be near the Fuller Avenue entrance. And as the city faces significant budget shortfalls, the project seems excessive, Mann said.

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“We’ve been running this park for a whole long time without bathrooms — is this a major budget item we need right now?” Mann said.

But city officials said the funding is “time-limited,” primarily due to federal funding rules.

And despite some lingering concerns, some locals told The Times they continue to support the bathroom project.

Given the extent of visitors at the park, it’s a needed project, said Don Andres, the president of the Friends of Runyon Canyon Foundation, which raises money for the park.

“With that amount of people, you need to have a restroom facility — if you don’t, you know what people will do,” Andres said. “It’s about preserving the park and providing dignity for its users.”