Los Angeles residents near the iconic Hollywood sign are living in fear of fire hazards caused by throngs of tourists clogging the roads near their homes.
About 100 residents of the affluent Hollywoodland, Lake Hollywood Estates and Hollywood Knolls neighborhoods filed a legal complaint against the City of Los Angeles on Monday demanding that something be done about the tourists.
The complaint specifically named Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is seeking to unseat Bass and whose district covers the Hollywood sign and surrounding neighborhoods.
Residents argued that the city and its officials are responsible for the huge number of visitors crowding the area, as the district’s former councilman cleared brush in 2011 to create a viewing area for the sign, right in the middle of narrow residential streets.
Since that shortsighted decision, tourists have come in ever greater numbers, locals claim.
And the crowds come with major safety concerns. Residents say that the traffic created by tourists could be a major problem in the case of a wildfire.
When the fires devastated the Palisades in early 2025, motorists abandoned their cars and fled on foot due to traffic jams, making it difficult or impossible for emergency services to travel the roads.
Residents said they are worried something similar could happen around their homes, especially given that inconsiderate tourists dispose of cigarette butts in high-fire-risk areas, the complaint said.
Los Angeles residents of the neighborhoods around the Hollywood Sign are fearful of the fire hazards posed by crowds of tourists blocking the roads near their homes
Residents argue that the City of Los Angeles is responsible for the crowds because officials cleared a viewing area for the Hollywood Sign in the middle of their residential neighborhoods
Locals say that in the case of a wildfire, motorists may abandon their vehicles and flee on foot, blocking first responders, similar to what happened during the Palisades Fires
Residents on Monday filed a legal complaint against the city of Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, whose district covers the Hollywood Sign
Lake Hollywood local Cynthia Comb and her husband ‘feel trapped in their home; they live in constant fear that they will die when fire inevitably comes,’ according to the complaint.
‘There are only two narrow, winding roads in and out of the Hollywood Hills Neighborhoods, one on the Hollywoodland side… and one on the Hollywood Knolls side,’ the complaint said.
‘If a fire breaks out, dozens if not hundreds may die due to their inability to escape via the crowded and narrow streets.’
And if the fire hazards weren’t bad enough, there is also the issue of tourists creating a disgusting mess.
Residents complain of constantly having to clean up trash and thousands of cigarette butts, pick up used diapers and even get rid of bottles filled with urine, as there are no public bathrooms in the area.
Residents have also documented frequent cases of public defecation and urination, according to the legal complaint. ‘The entire neighborhood has become a public toilet,’ the complaint said.
Attorney Ilan Wurman, who is representing the locals who filed the complaint, told the Los Angeles Times that residents are not seeking any financial compensation, but rather an injunction that would force Los Angeles officials to take action.
The complaint does not outline exactly how the city might do so, but Wurman said that options could include limiting tourist access near the sign similar to what Paris does with the Eiffel Tower, or replanting vegetation at the lookout area that was cleared in 2011.
Residents say that tourists smoke and dispose of cigarette butts in high-fire-risk areas. Tourists in the area are pictured smoking
Residents also complain about having to pick up thousands of cigarette butts. A Ziploc bag full of cigarette butts cleaned up by a local is pictured
Tourists leave behind trash, used diapers and even bottles full of urine, as there is no public bathroom in the area, according to residents
Locals have also documented frequent cases of public urination and defecation, according to the complaint, which said: ‘The entire neighborhood has become a public toilet’
The attorney added that the crowds, litter and fire hazards were a foreseeable ‘consequence of packing tens of thousands of people in this neighborhood of narrow and winding streets.’
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Mayor Bass’s office said that it has not seen the legal complaint, but the Los Angeles Police Department allocates additional units during peak traffic times in the area around the Hollywood Sign to help with congestion.
The mayor’s office also said that police have worked with the city’s transportation department to develop a more robust traffic plan for the area.
Raman’s office told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that locals ‘shouldn’t have to absorb the gridlock and safety risks that come with [visitors] on narrow hillside streets.’
The statement added: ‘Every year since taking office, we have funded additional presence from LAPD and LADOT (Los Angeles Department of Transportation), adjusting both staffing levels and deployment locations in response to community feedback.
‘Since May, our office has arranged and funded LAPD and LADOT deployments every Friday through Sunday from the Fourth of July through Labor Day, which has increased ticketing and towing in the area.’
Raman’s office also said it has secured funding for a pilot plan to improve traffic around the Hollywood Sign during peak visitation.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Raman’s office for further comment.
