sbsheriff
By the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office would like to share information from frequently asked questions about the upcoming 2023 Deltopia weekend. The Sheriff’s Office worked together with community stakeholders as well as allied agency partners to plan for the safety of the residents and guests who will be visiting the Isla Vista area this weekend. As a result of planning meetings, community feedback and review of activity in the area for the preceding weeks, the Sheriff’s Office has developed a scalable operation plan with responsive staffing levels and presence based on activity and the ability of first responders to effectively manage safety and security.
The “Outdoor Festival Ordinance” 6-70.01 Santa Barbara County Ordinance is effective from Friday April 6, 2023, to Sunday, April 9, 2023, and from the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within the area bounded by, and including, El Colegio Road, Camino Majorca to Storke Road, Ocean Road to Stadium Road and the Pacific Ocean in the unincorporated area of Isla Vista. The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind the public that possession of an opened container of alcohol is prohibited on public street, public sidewalk, public highway, public parking lot or public alley and that Santa Barbara County Ordinance 36-3 will be enforced.
The Sheriff’s Office plans to offer its Restorative Justice program for some minor infractions. The Restorative Justice class is a voluntary program that requires participants to attend a two-hour presentation. The class focuses on safety in Isla Vista as well as improving community relations and partnerships. Participants will be assigned an hour of community service in Isla Vista. Upon completing the class and community service the participant’s fine will be waived and the citation will not go on their criminal record. You can find more information about this program on the Sheriff’s Office website – SBSheriff.org.
Attendees may encounter the use of traffic barricades to re-route vehicles off streets with heavy pedestrian traffic. These barricades vary from a soft closure – where only residents are permitted past or hard closures where no vehicle traffic is allowed. The use of these barricades will take into consideration crowd size and the ability for first responders, including Fire and Medics, to access and respond to all areas of Isla Vista. Residents can anticipate a soft closure to vehicle traffic starting Saturday at 10:a.m. on all roadways south of Trigo. Residents are encouraged to carry proof of address in their vehicle that include the residents name and the Isla Vista address. Examples of proof of address include government identification, a utility bill, school documents or lease. Parking restrictions will be in place in the City of Goleta on Friday and Saturday nights. You can find more information on their website- CityofGoleta.org.
The Sheriff’s Office plans to provide any breaking information to the media and the public using our Twitter accounts – @SBSOPIO and @SBSheriff. The Sheriff’s Office intends on sharing recap of activity early next week and we look forward to a safe and local weekend.
As a native of Goleta and a 21 year resident of Isla Vista I find it very easy for anyone who doesn’t live in IV to say “just let the kids be kids!”. Most weekends I would agree but when these highly advertised events bring in individuals from out of town who tend to create most of the chaos I applaud any and all aspects of law enforcement keeping it mellow. Also, people who are not residents of IV tend to believe that it is all students which is factually inaccurate. Our west end is mostly working families with young children and retirees who have lived in IV dating back to the 50’s. Comparable to any Goleta or Santa Barbara family neighborhood. Those who want a downgrading in law enforcement I encourage you to invite students and deltopia to your neighborhood. Thanks
Sacjon, I agree with you that the ordinance has become a way to work around the right of the people to assemble peaceably. Peaceably is a keyword though, and the interpretation of that word peaceably is what everything hinges on. I do know that the original “Floatopia” by 2009 with 12,000 attendees degenerated into numerous breaches of the peace and additionally an environmental disaster when many of the couches and crap the party goers dragged down onto the beach was left there for the tide to claim.
The following is from the Independent: “Twelve were transported to the hospital by ambulance, and two people fell off the cliffs, one of whom was able to walk away while the other sustained a head injury. Several others cut their feet on broken bottles and at least one was hit in the head by a bottle thrown from balconies. as students continued to line the cliffs, throwing bottles and other objects down onto the masses. “I just got back up and started dancing,” said UCSB senior Ashley Moore, who was knocked unconscious by a football flung from the sky.”
“Though the celebration ended Saturday night, remnants were still visible from the I.V. cliffs as of press deadline, with abandoned rafts and crushed beer cans scattered across the sand. To some, this was the most heinous crime of all, especially for a student body that’s long prided itself on environmentalism. Bradley Cardinale, an assistant professor of ecology at UCSB, described Floatopia as “the most egregious events of dumping I have ever seen in this state.””
Bad form all around and an ongoing lesson that a few idiots can ruin a good time for everyone.
Sacjon, I know you and VOR had a now banned conversation about similarities between Deltopia with the COVID lockdowns that forbid peaceable outdoor assemblies in 2020-2021. Peaceable assembly is a cornerstone right, yet we recognize that the right is not always absolute. It is my opinion that 2023 UCSB students are having their rights infringed because the 2009 assemblers overstepped their rights.
Governments are great locking things down after the fact and with little understanding. (The County originally wanted to close the entire beach for 6 weeks every year in response to Floatopia 2009. Good luck with that piece of genius).
Governments are not so great at working out flexible solutions, and they also are not so good at lifting restrictions, because bureaucrats know that among those very few things that can get them fired is the dreaded “blame for lifting a restriction that later involves injury or destruction”
EDNEY at 2:55 – I think I just saw a pig fly by…… I actually agree with you on that. The Covid restrictions/distancing/vaccinations were one thing and I agreed with those, but the closing of the beaches, parks, and then even schools after the initial terrifying and unprecedented first few months, were too much.
The “Outdoor Festival Ordinance” is a joke. Outlawing music of any kind at a party after 6pm is not to prevent “festivals,” it’s just a way to skirt around the 1st Amendment right to assemble and ban parties. Such a greasy tactic by the County. Once again, instead of putting more cops in the area and cracking down on crime, they just “shut it down.”
Be safe and party on!
2:46 – I never said I don’t care about others’ rights. I just think the “Festival” ordinance is slimy way to stop parties.
100% Sacjon, the rights granted to us in the US Constitution can not be infringed, even during an “emergency”! Though noise ordinances and prohibitions on amplified music do not violate the 1st Amendment. I appreciate the pro-police tough on crime stance too!
I didn’t say they violated the 1st Amendment. An outright ban on parties (assembling) might be counter to the 1A, but with these “festival” laws, they avoid that and just ban music from being played/performed at parties. Again, please read more carefully.
Oh yes… the old I, I, I, Me, Me, Me, “MY rights” rant…. who gives a rat’s a** about anyone else, how nice, how neighborly.
“All units in the area, be advised, kids are having fun in Isla Vista.”