‘The Hills’ are alive with neighborhood chaos

LOS ANGELES - “The Hills,” currently filming in a residential Hollywood neighborhood where lead character Lauren Conrad has bought a house, has local residents upset by the ensuing cacophonous parade of paparazzi and onlookers resulting from the production’s presence.

Neighborhood sources tell AccessHollywood.com that MTV has turned the residence into a commercial sound stage for the purpose of filming the show. The house is located in a single-family residential zone.

The sources also say residents feel that the ancillary activities from the production present a serious threat to public safety, create a public nuisance, cause disturbing problems and interfere with their rights as homeowners.

An MTV spokesperson tells AccessHollywood.com that, “MTV is in accordance with all required production permits, and is working with the city of Los Angeles to assist it with neighborhood concerns that have been raised.”

According to public records on the Multiple Listing Service, Lauren Conrad Living Trust purchased the house for $2.36 million on February 1. The production has been filming in the location for most of the ensuing months. The seven-room (three-bedroom, one-bathroom permitted) two-story house was built in 1922 — its prior price in 1999 was only $710,000.

“The Hills” is one of the most popular shows on the cable channel. The show’s mid-third season premiere in March 2008 attracted 4.8 million viewers, the series biggest audience for a single episode. The show follows the lives of five young women: Lauren Conrad, Lo Bosworth, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port and Heidi Montag, as they negotiate the early stages of their careers and social lives in Los Angeles. Lauren and Lo live in the main house on the property in question, and Audrina lives in the back guesthouse. The girls moved into the house towards the end of the show’s third season, which finished airing in May 2008. Season four is set to premiere this August, according to MTV.com.

A rep for Conrad tells AccessHollywood.com that Lauren is as upset as her neighbors are over the situation taking place on her block. The rep says that MTV has followed all protocol and that Lauren herself has hired private security for outside of her home.

An undated letter sent from the executive producers of “The Hills” to the neighborhood residents just a few days before shooting began (but more than two months after Conrad purchased the house), and provided to AccessHollywood.com by a resident who requested anonymity, states, “As a documentary crew, we do not have any equipment trucks, and require no special parking. Our crew is not allowed to park on the streets, and is shuttled to the house in minivans. Our equipment all fits in one van, which we will also not leave on the street. Once we are shooting, our presence will be minimal — we strive to be as invisible as possible.”

AccessHollywood.com’s sources claim that, contrary to this letter, equipment trucks, crews and other vehicles associated with the production are left on the street on a regular basis, making parking for the other residents difficult and creating congestion.

Is there really anyone at home?
The sources say residents have complained that Conrad, Patridge and Bosworth are only at the house when the cameras are rolling or when there is a paparazzi outside to document them coming and going. They claim the young women do not live permanently at the residence. However, they claim the lights are left on in the home around the clock.

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AccessHollywood.com sent reporters to the house at approximately 6:30 p.m. on June 19, where from the street, what appeared to be bright production lights could be seen permanently affixed on the ceiling inside the home. They also appeared lit on June 20, at around 9 p.m. and June 21 at around 3:30 p.m.

Also attracted to the neighborhood? According to AccessHollywood.com’s sources, an unruly group of paparazzi.

As the paparazzi have become increasingly more aggressive, according to our sources, they are vandalizing personal property and threatening residents. The paparazzi are allegedly fighting with each other over “territory” and who has the right to be there.

AccessHollywood.com’s sources claim that dozens of complaints have been made to MTV, the executive producers of “The Hills,” City Councilmember Tom LaBonge’s office, the city attorneys office, Film L.A. Inc., and the LAPD Hollywood division, resulting in limited changes to the amount of activity taking place on the block.

Councilmember LaBonge’s office acknowledges that there has indeed been a problem in the neighborhood, towards which their office has taken significant action.

LaBonge’s office claims that the disruptions do not stem from MTV’s filming, but rather from the paparazzi presence and street-side activity. LaBonge’s office says they have had 10 meetings with the complaining group of residents over the previous four months.

“We have sat down with them to determine how best to address the issue,” a press representative for the Councilman’s office tells AccessHollywood.com. “This is more of a neighborhood issue than a filming issue. Most of the complaints have taken place not during filming. … Both the City attorney’s office and the LAPD have devoted a lot of time to this issue, and they have determined that the issues are not related to the filming itself, but more the noise on the street that results from the production’s presence.”

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