The Los Angeles City Council Friday delayed its vote on installing a gate to temporarily close the historic Beachwood Stairs in the Hollywood Hills.
The City Council will vote on the motion on Wednesday. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who introduced the motion and represents the Hollywood Hills area, was absent from the meeting. She announced on Tuesday that she tested positive for COVID-19.
According to Raman, the stairs require more than $100,000 worth of repairs, and funds haven’t been identified for the project.
Raman’s motion, if approved by the City Council, would allocate $3,312 to install a gate at the stairway, which is located at 3020 and 3030 Beachwood Drive, north of Franklin Avenue. The stairs have already been blocked off to the public with temporary materials.
“Right now, the stairs pose a significant public safety hazard,” Raman said on Twitter Wednesday. “This closure is intended to protect users from any physical harm while our team works to secure funding for the repairs.”
Raman added that her office has received concern about the stairs’ closure, which she reiterated would be a temporary measure. She said her office is working with the Board of Public Works to create a scope of work for the repair project.
The staircase is inside the Hollywoodland area and connects North Beachwood Drive to Hollyridge Drive. The staircase is part of an urban hiking loop that utilizes a series of staircases in the area: bit.ly/3eW04xx.
A group of the area’s staircases were declared a Historic-Cultural Monument in 1991 as part of the designation “Hollywoodland’s Granite Retaining Wall and Interconnecting Granite Stairs.”
