The River Path Between Whitsett and Laurel Canyon Is Becoming Studio City's Front Door

When was the last time a new building in Studio City put its entrance on the river side? For decades the south-bank greenway between Whitsett Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard has run along the backs of things, behind parking lots and commercial buildings that face Ventura Boulevard. Within one month this fall, that changed on paper three times.

On Oct. 14, a City Council motion asked to restore this exact stretch and rename it for Melanie Winter. About a week later, the Council upheld approval of a large development whose backers point to river access as a selling point. At the same time, Harvard-Westlake reported that its River Park, which will be entered from the greenway, was about 99% complete. Each project has its own budget and its own calendar. All three point at the same half-mile of path, and together they plan for that path to be the slow, walking side of the river.

A path built by several hands

The council motion describes the existing L.A. River Greenway as sections that "stitch together Studio City from Fulton Avenue to Radford Avenue," built over time and "operated and maintained by different agencies." The Whitsett-to-Laurel Canyon segment opened in 2008 and is managed by the Department of Recreation and Parks. The motion says it now needs "improvements and refurbishments."

Next door is the older Valleyheart Greenway. According to The River Project, fourth and fifth graders at Carpenter Elementary School helped design its landscape and features, including the Great Toad Gate entrance on Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Other student-designed pieces include a Butterfly Bench inscribed with a Thoreau quote, a Snake Wall whose stones carry the names of the children who took part, butterfly and hummingbird gardens, and a Story Fence. The county paid to build the south bank, and that work was finished in June 2004.

Lighting on the Rec and Parks segment has already changed. A Recreation and Parks fee report lists a $200,000 project that replaced damaged hard-wired lights with solar fixtures on new poles along the path from Laurel Canyon to Whitsett. The same report records that project as complete in January 2025.

What the Oct. 14 motion asks for

Council File 26-1471 was moved by Councilmember Nithya Raman, who represents Studio City in District 4, and seconded by Councilmember Adrin Nazarian. It is pending in the Arts, Parks, and City Facilities Committee. The motion text asks for four things:

1. Recreation and Parks would start a capital project called the "LA River Greenway Studio City Habitat Restoration, Beautification, and Safety Project." It would cover the south bank from Laurel Canyon west to Whitsett, with civil and landscaping work aimed at "connectivity, access, and public safety."
2. The department would accept $250,000 in Federal Community Project Funding that Congress set aside for the Studio City greenway.
3. The project would add honorary and interpretive signage about Melanie Winter's work.
4. The Rec and Parks segment would officially become the "Melanie Winter Studio City LA River Greenway."

Winter was executive director of Friends of the Los Angeles River and founded The River Project in 2001. The motion notes that she was a nearby Studio City resident who helped open both this greenway and the Valleyheart Greenway beside it. In its obituary, the Los Angeles Times described her nearly three decades of work toward "a living river instead of a concrete river."

On Oct. 28, the Studio City Neighborhood Council passed a motion supporting restoration of the Whitsett-to-Laurel Canyon stretch and the proposed naming. The new name is a request for now. It takes effect only if the city adopts it.

Two new neighbors, both facing the water

The restoration motion would fix the path. The two big projects at its west end will bring more people onto it.

River Park. Harvard-Westlake's campus on the former Weddington Golf & Tennis site includes a six-acre public park and clubhouse. According to the school's River Park FAQ, they will be free and open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., reachable both "from the Zev Yaroslavsky LA River Greenway" and from a main visitor entrance off Whitsett Avenue. The public can use the tennis courts when the school isn't, generally 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. From September through May, the pool is open for individual lap swimming on weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. At the Oct. 28 neighborhood council meeting, a Harvard-Westlake representative said public amenities were expected to open around March 1, 2027, and that community open houses are planned.

The school's Oct. 30 construction update said the sidewalk work on Whitsett should be finished by Oct. 31. After that, Valley Spring Lane and Whitsett would return to normal traffic and the construction fencing would move back to the property line. Light testing on the field and tennis courts ran with shutoffs at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., the same cutoffs that will apply once the site opens. The school also says that work rebuilt the uprooted Whitsett sidewalk and set it farther back onto its own property, with more landscaping and new native oaks along the curb.

Riverwalk at Studio City. Genton Property Group, RC Development and Torino Companies plan to replace the commercial buildings at 12555 Ventura Boulevard with two- to seven-story buildings. The plans call for 814 apartments and about 76,000 square feet of commercial space. Urbanize LA reported on Oct. 23 that the City Council upheld the project's approval and rejected the appeals. In her letter of support, Raman pointed to the project's access to the Los Angeles River and its promise to keep the 1950s bowling alley sign still standing on the site. The developers also agreed to $675,000 in additional community benefits for river access and tree planting.

The neighborhood council's Riverwalk committee chair broke that figure down at the Oct. 28 meeting. About $375,000 goes to Segment 8 greenway improvements and $300,000 to Recreation and Parks greenway work. The negotiated terms also include 23 more shade trees and traffic improvements at Whitsett and Moorpark and at Whitsett and Ventura.

Three projects on different timelines

On paper, River Park opens first, in the spring. The renaming and restoration then move through City Hall, and the Riverwalk money arrives over a construction schedule measured in years. If those timelines hold, River Park's opening will be the first of the three to reach the path.

The other bank gets the bikes

The motion's opening paragraph explains why all of this matters for the south bank. The Bureau of Engineering has started designing Segment 8 of the LA RiverWay, which will develop the opposite bank. The motion calls that side "slightly faster-paced" and bicycle-focused but pedestrian friendly, and it calls the existing greenway the "slower-paced more pedestrian-focused side."

With bike traffic planned for the opposite bank, the restoration money, the River Park entrance and the Riverwalk river access are all spent on the side meant for walking. The motion also says improvements should "create better connections to Ventura Boulevard and adjacent commercial properties."

The neighborhood council wants to go further. On Oct. 28 it asked Council District 4 to look into buying or partnering on 11575 and 11571 Ventura Boulevard as parkland and a future way into the greenway. Supporters called the parcels a rare potential access point. The motion asks only for a feasibility discussion and does not authorize a purchase.

Where to show up before spring

Neighbors who want a say in how this stretch turns out have some dates this season:

• Volunteer work. On Oct. 28 the Studio City Neighborhood Council voted to ask the city for permission to hold volunteer cleanups and remove invasive species between Whitsett and Laurel Canyon. Its one-year-anniversary community cleanup is set for Sunday, Nov. 15, from 8:30 to 11 a.m., meeting at Vitello's, 4349 Tujunga Avenue.
• Dec. 9, 6 to 8 p.m. The council's calendar lists a talk on the Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve at Studio City Library.
• CF 26-1471. The City Clerk's file page is where a committee hearing and any vote on the renaming and the $250,000 will be posted.
• River Park open houses. Harvard-Westlake has said community open-house opportunities are planned. Updates appear on its construction page, which also lists a hotline at 818-487-6611 and the email [email protected].

I follow projects like this one closely, from the walk past the Great Toad Gate to the open houses at River Park. If you'd like to talk about how the new greenway, River Park and Riverwalk fit into your corner of Studio City, Tammy Jerome would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.