UCSB students to host “Save Deltopia Town Hall”
Tracy Lehr
ISLA VISTA, Calif. (KEYT) The unsanctioned street party known as Deltopia usually happens along Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista the weekend following Spring Break.
Older Gauchos may remember it as Floatopia, but that got cancelled due to environmental and safety concerns along the shore.
An influx of people from out of town led to a riot in 2014 and since then there has been a crackdown.
Current students don’t want to be blamed for the past and want to discuss solutions.
But many are opposed to a proposed Deltopia noise ordinance.
Members of the Associated Students are hosting a Save Deltopia Townhall at the Isla Vista Theater on Embarcadero Del Norte at 5 p.m.. on Wednesday Nov. 12.
The town hall will have a panel discussion featuring representatives from Associated Students , IV foot Patrol, Isla Vista Community Services District and a representative from Supervisor Laura Capps’ office.
Crackdowns on the noise in the past have led to silent discos, added lighting and an increased law enforcement presence.
E.J. Raad, the elected External Vice President for Local Affairs of Associated Students, hopes students and Isla Vista residents and community members show up.
“What we really need is for constituents to make their voices heard, this ordinance needs to be passed by the [Santa Barbara[ County Board of Supervisors in January, so they need to know how their constituents here in Isla Vista feel about it, since we are the ones being affected,” said Raad, “It would ban music, any amplified noise and that is a little vague, the idea though is music is the number one thing that attracts people.”
Raad would like to see students enjoy Deltopia again with music that isn’t out of control.
“In my opinion, a win win would be this ordinance not being passed and then all the community stakeholders come together creating something on Del Playa that is a key part of Deltopia,” said Raad.
Isla Vista Community Services District Board of Directors President Spencer Brandt said the community could take a page from San Luis Obispo that created a sanctioned event on the Cal Poly campus instead of its “Saint Fratty’s Day” party.
Brandt would like to see a path forward that leads to a permitted event.
“What I would love to see is a permitted and sanctioned festival that is organized, that has artists that people want to see, that helps to alleviate a lot of the neighborhood issues that we experience when there are all these many, many parties happening at once.,” said Brandt.
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Joe Schmidt who is part of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol calls resources are an issue.
“The proposed ordinance to prohibit amplified music for 72 hours during Deltopia is intended to reduce harm to the Isla Vista, UCSB, and neighboring communities. The out of town crowds have become untenable, and we’ve experienced far too much tragedy to allow this unsanctioned event to continue in its current form. This is a call to action for all community partners to unite and re-frame Deltopia as a local, sanctioned event with all necessary safety measures in place without draining countywide public safety resources. The County of Santa Barbara has been challenged by Deltopia for 16 years at a significant cost to taxpayers. It’s time for change,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt, Brandt and Raad plan to take part in the town hall discussion.
“The Isla Vista Community Services District is the local voice of people in Isla Vista so we are encouraging people to come out to the town hall on the subject of Deltopia this Wed. at 5 p.m make your voice heard I hear a lot of opinions about the right way to make this event safer for our community and now is the time to show up and express those opinions to out local decision makers,” said Brandts.
Students walking by the theater on Tuesday night said they would be attending the town hall.
