Will bathrooms ruin an oasis?

Runyon Canyon Park is getting $l-million amenities, irking some locals

- BY GRACE TOOHEY

SISTERS Leslie, left, and Lily Presiado hike at Runyon Canyon Park. L.A. officials plan to bring in a prefabricated restroom next year.

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 HIKER uses a portable toilet near the park's entrance. There are no permanent bathrooms.

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.