One neighborhood's bid to fence itself off from the rest of the city will be laid to rest under a legal settlement approved Wednesday by the City Council.
The Whitley Heights Civic Assn. and the city have agreed to work together to tear down seven gates that the community near the Hollywood Bowl erected in 1991 and 1992 to deter crime. After a complaint by residents outside the gates, a Los Angeles Superior Court judged ruled last year that the gates must come down because they violate a law against restricting access to public streets. Residents appealed but lost before the state Supreme Court in June.

