The Hollywood Sign may be the most iconic sign in the world, but its allure has resulted in quality of life issues for its neighbors, some of whom are at their wits’ end with the safety issues that arise from tourists flocking to windy, hillside roads.

The Hollywood Sign beckons many to the Hollywood Hills, which has created quality of life issues for neighbors of the landmark. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

The issues have been ongoing for years, but in August, Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, 4th District, filed motions to alleviate the traffic and parking problems that plague the area.

The motions call for the city’s Department of Transportation to continue appropriately providing traffic control services at the top of Beachwood Drive and study the possibility of preferential parking districts in the residential areas.

“In my heart, I don’t like preferential parking districts, but I know what it did to help the Melrose Village community,” LaBonge said.

The proposal calls for preferential parking districts on Beachwood, Hollyridge, Rodgerton and Ledgewood drives. Additional parking districts would include Mulholland Highway, Lechner Place and Belden, Durand, Westshire, Deronda, Rockcliff, Heather and Woodhaven drives.

The majority of the nine districts would prohibit parking on weekends and holidays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. except for 90 minute parking for weekends and holidays in the area near the Beachwood Market.

Once implemented, the parking districts would be enforced for one year, when they would be up for renewal.

“We’re going to monitor it,” LaBonge said, adding that the move is “the right thing to do.”

Some members of the Hollywood United Neighborhood Council are not so sure. Erik Sanjurjo, vice president of the neighborhood council, said many neighborhood groups in the Hollywood Hills are in favor of the parking districts, but he fears that they will just push the congestion elsewhere.

“It seems like they may just be moving the problem from one area to other,” he said, adding that he certainly understands why the city is trying to remedy the issue.

Sanjurjo said Lake Hollywood would likely become the new place for tourists and tour busses to go, but all the new foot and vehicle traffic could quickly overwhelm the area. LaBonge said he would work to ensure that other areas are not impacted.

The neighborhood council would like to see the pilot program implemented for only six months, Sanjurjo said. He said members are simply looking for a compromise, since it appears that the decision has already been made.

“To some extent, we’re just kind of acknowledging that the cow is out of the barn,” Sanjurjo said, adding that some members are worried that the districts will become permanent without community input.

He said the neighborhood council has been told that the districts may not be implemented until June. If the districts were only implemented for six months, the problems could become campaign issues in the Council District 4 race in 2015, Sanjurjo said.

“It would be an interesting issue for the various candidates,” he added.

If implemented, the Department of Transportation has promised better parking enforcement in the area, Sanjurjo said. He said better enforcement would be a necessity, as there is nothing stopping tourists from getting as close as possible to the Hollywood Sign.

“They’re not hiking, most of them. They’re just stopping in the middle of the street and taking a picture,” Sanjurjo said. “That kind of behavior is going to be hard to stop.”

He acknowledged that the issue is complex and has “a lot of moving parts,” and he is interested to see how the preferential parking districts impact traffic and parking problems.

“It’s impossible to say whether people are correct or incorrect about their assumptions until we try it out,” Sanjurjo said.

He hopes the city will improve its public relations in terms of notifying tourists about the approved places to see the Hollywood Sign. Sanjurjo said he would like to see the city come up with as many places as possible that don’t require tourists to attempt traversing residential streets.

LaBonge has also instructed the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of creating a transportation pilot program that would ferry tourists and hikers to the Hollyridge trailhead or the Hollywood Sign in a vehicle that is no larger than a 10-passenger van.

“It’s my hope that we still have a shuttle that would go from the subway station on Hollywood Boulevard all the way through and not effect the neighborhood,” he said, adding that the city must address the bigger issues first. LaBonge also called on residents to not impact neighborhoods if they go hiking in the area.