Parking will soon be harder to find around Runyon Canyon after the Los Angeles City Council approved new regulations for a strip of residential streets near the popular hiking spot.
Parking will be restricted west of the canyon and north of Hollywood Boulevard from North Curson Avenue to Laurel Canyon Boulevard, a stretch about a half-mile wide. Residents living within the restricted area will be able to obtain permits from the city.
Council member Nithya Raman, who represents the neighborhood, requested the regulations in 2022 in response to residents' complaints that day trippers and tourists were filling street parking near their homes.
Much of the parking on the streets surrounding Runyon Canyon is already out of limits to nonresidents, forcing drivers to flood residential streets west of the canyon, Raman said in a 2022 letter to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.
“Residents deserve immediate relief” from the influx of parking on their streets, said a Transportation Committee report sent to council in February.
North Curson Avenue resident Kris Heller said she is grateful for the impending restrictions. “This is a narrow street and it gets crazy, especially on the weekends,” she said.
Another neighbor, Mary Ann Christopher, said she was concerned about ambulances and other emergency vehicles passing through the street when cars are lined up on both sides. She said she hoped only parking would be allowed in the area.
The City Council has not yet specified what type of restrictions will apply on which streets, but the limitations will range from parking for two hours to not parking for certain hours without permission.
Some Runyon Canyon hikers said the new restrictions worsen an already difficult parking situation and will discourage people from visiting the park. There is a small unmetered lot at the top of the canyon, but it fills up quickly, according to hikers.
The Los Angeles City Council has established new parking restrictions for residential streets surrounding Runyon Canyon.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“We should be looking to expand access to the outdoors, not reduce it,” said Lowell Goodman, a Hollywood Hills resident and outdoor enthusiast. “I think it's very important that everyone can park there and use this space.”
Runyon Canyon draws large crowds on weekends.
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Hancock Park resident Scott Manlin, who lives in a permit-only parking area south of the canyon, said he sees both sides of the issue. He walks through the canyon almost every day and tries to park somewhere between North La Brea Avenue and Sierra Bonita Avenue.
“I can empathize with the owners' perspective,” he said. “They want access to parking close to their house, they own those houses and they have the right to it. But it is also a public good and there needs to be access to it.”
Hikers who park on or west of North Curson Avenue can walk to the park entrances near North Vista Street or North Fuller Avenue, at the bottom of the canyon. The new restrictions will push hikers who want to park more than a half mile west of these entrances.
“If you came here to hike, you can walk a little further from your parking spot to get here,” said Dean Neistat, who lives close enough to the canyon that he can run there from his home.
Other hikers said crowded streets are just part of the territory when living near Runyon Canyon.
“When you move here, you sign up,” said Brad Hoegl, who lives near the canyon and visits frequently. “It's like moving to Disney World and complaining about people.”
City Hall has not announced when street signs outlining the regulations will go up.
