Committee to Save the Hollywoodland Specific Plan v. City of Los Angeles

Petitioners Committee to Save the Hollywoodland Specific Plan and Hollywood Heritage (collectively the Committee or petitioners) appeal judgment on their petition for peremptory writ of mandate. Petitioners sought to compel the City of Los Angeles (City) to rescind its approval of a specific plan exception for a wooden fence that a homeowner had constructed atop one of the historic granite walls of Hollywoodland. The trial court denied the petition, finding the City properly relied on an exception to the Hollywoodland Specific Plan (HSP) and a categorical exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) to approve the fence. We affirm in part and reverse in part, concluding that although under the terms of the HSP and the municipal code, the City properly granted an exception to the HSP, under CEQA, the City improperly granted an exemption.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In the early 1920’s, when the Hollywoodland housing tract was developed, European stonemasons constructed numerous granite support walls abutting the winding, curving streets of the area. In 1991, the City designated the walls, along with…