Residents living along Del Playa Drive don’t always know what they’re signing up for when they move into an Isla Vista oceanfront property. 

Nayali Broadway, a UC Santa Barbara sophomore and recently elected Associated Student Body president for the 2024-25 school year, said she had no idea how dangerous the bluffs were until this year. 

“From my personal experience, I didn’t know anything about bluff safety, and it was never brought up during orientation or anything like that,” Broadway said. 

She said she often hears from residents who have concerns about their oceanfront property, but that the high cost of rent in the area leaves them with few options. 

“People are moving into those houses knowing the risks because it’s cheap,” Broadway said. “I think it’s really unfortunate that our property managers and landlords are allowed to take advantage of students who need housing, and they’re really willing to face those risks if it guarantees them housing.”

While UCSB offers thousands of spots for students to live on campus, the majority of students live off campus in Isla Vista, the neighboring community in unincorporated Santa Barbara County.

Since the UCSB school year started in September, there have been two cliff-fall deaths, four people rescued after falling down the cliffs, and multiple bluff-top homes lost part of their balconies because of erosion after intense winter storms.

The dangers around the bluffs on Del Playa Drive are a longtime issue, with 14 known cliff-fall deaths since the mid-1990s. However, this year, the falls and erosion activity provoked new safety measures.

Cliff Falls and Deaths

Isla Vista saw two cliff deaths this year. The first was over Labor Day weekend in 2023, when 19-year-old Santa Barbara City College student Benny Schurmer died after falling from the bluffs on the 6700 block of Del Playa Drive. 

In April, a 23-year-old UCSB alum, Jacob Parker, died after falling from the cliffs on the 6600 block of Del Playa Drive.

“I can’t remember the last time we had two falls in one year that resulted in death,” said Spencer Brandt, a board member for the Isla Vista Community Services District. “It’s very concerning.”

In February, firefighters rescued four people in Isla Vista after a woman had gone over the edge and got stuck 10 to 15 feet down on a ledge. Three men tried to rescue the woman but got stuck themselves. Firefighters rescued all four people without any casualties. 

Those incidents brought new attention to the dangers of the Isla Vista bluffs. 

On Nov. 28, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted an eight-point Isla Vista safety plan introduced by Second District Supervisor Laura Capps.

The plan included raising fence heights along the bluffs from 3.5 feet to 6 feet, adding restrooms along Del Playa, and installing better lighting, vegetation along cliff edges, warning signage, and a memorial for those who died from cliff falls.

Raising fence heights is required for any new building or fence improvements, but does not apply retroactively to buildings with existing fencing.

Capps’ office is covering the permitting fees for property owners along the bluffs who raise their fence heights; however, not all of them have done so.

“I don’t think that it’s possible for them to not be aware that the county has changed its building code, that deaths have happened, that we are now making it as easy as possible to raise their fence heights,” Capps said. “It’s confounding to me that this isn’t done yet.”

Capps said her office has reached out to property owners by sending letters, calling, and sending brochures to property owners about how they can raise their fences. 

Meanwhile, fences on county-owned parks along Del Playa Drive have been raised to 6 feet. 

Brandt said it’s been important to educate property owners about what’s going on and remind them that the new law is about keeping residents safe. 

“I think that there was an expectation that once the law passed that the switch would get flipped, and we would see a lot of activity to comply with the law and increase the fence heights, and then I think as time has gone on, and we haven’t seen that rush, there’s definitely been some frustration,” Brandt said. 

Following Parker’s death, Capps sent another letter to property owners and managers signed by parents who lost their children to cliff falls in Isla Vista, urging them to raise their fences. 

Capps said that letter helped gain momentum and more property owners have since begun the process to raise their fences. Five properties have started the process to raise their fences, according to her district staff.

“That letter did what we hoped: It brought up emotions on purpose, and it got a response because I had been cold-calling and getting the runaround,” Capps said. 

Bluff Erosion

Cliff falls aren’t the only problem facing residents on Del Playa Drive. 

In February, 45 residents were briefly evacuated from apartments on the 6700 block after a balcony collapsed because of heavy winter rains and cliff erosion.

Afterward, residents said they received very little communication from their property manager about the safety of their building or when the balcony would be fixed. 

Lisa Plowman, director of the county Planning & Development Department, said the county regularly monitors bluff conditions on Del Playa Drive by comparing pictures, walking through the area after major storms, and using drones from the Fire Department. 

According to the county’s Isla Vista bluff policy, the county will send a letter notifying property owners where any portion of the building’s foundation is within 20 feet of the bluff’s edge and request a geotechnical study on the property. 

If a portion of a building’s foundation is within 15 feet of the bluffs, the county will issue a notice of violation to the property owners requiring a geotechnical study. 

If a portion of the building’s foundation is within 10 feet of the bluffs, the county will issue a notice to vacate that portion of the structure, and the property owners will be required to hire a geotechnical engineer to prepare a site-specific study. 

According to Plowman, 12 structures have been cut back more than once since 2000. That means a portion of the building was demolished and the inside was renovated to keep the structure farther from the bluff’s edge. In addition, she said, 12 patios have been cut back more than once. 

Since 2000, the county has issued 149 notices of violations of building code to Isla Vista property owners and managers, according to Plowman.

A number of properties have been demolished and are awaiting new structures, including 6595 Del Playa. 

Plowman said 6701 Del Playa has a demolition and cut-back permit and will be renovated this summer; 6709 Del Playa and 6761 Del Playa are preparing for cutbacks with work set to begin soon; and 6757 Del Playa has been vacated. 

Capps said she wants to focus on helping empower tenants to report safety concerns and understand their rights as tenants. 

“We’re really trying to empower tenants if they see some things that are unsafe to do something about it, and to not feel powerless,” Capps said. “Students often get taken advantage of and they feel like they are powerless. They’re worried they’re going to get evicted or they’re not going to get their security deposit back, or all of these real threats, especially when they’re paying astronomical rents.”

Capps also said she will be working with UCSB to get more information about cliff safety into this fall’s orientation for new students. 

Educating the Next Generation of Isla Vista Student Residents

New residents come into Isla Vista every year as the school year begins, and many older residents leave after graduation or a few years after graduation. 

“Every four years, most of the community turns over,” Brandt said. “Because our population is very young, our dedicated core group of people that are involved in community improvement efforts over the long term is a lot smaller than you’d see in other communities of our size.”

Brandt said educating new residents about the bluffs will be a big focus for the IVCSD this fall through canvassing, educational door hangers, and social media posts.

“I think that being able to point to the tragedies in a way helps amplify the importance of listening to those educational messages if you’re a resident that lives on Del Playa, because this really could happen to anybody,” Brandt said. 

Broadway, the UCSB student, said she isn’t aware of the university’s plans on cliff safety messaging to students, but she hopes to collaborate with others on it. One of her main focuses during her turn as student body president will be getting better lighting throughout Isla Vista and campus and more public restrooms, she said.

Broadway said she believes the university should be taking a bigger role in ensuring safe housing for students. 

“I think it’s unfortunate that these are concerns that students are having when safe housing should be part of their basic rights,” Broadway said.