Santa Barbara County recently amended its Isla Vista bluff policy following recent balcony collapses due to erosion.
The policy now mandates property owners to conduct a field measurement and report to the Santa Barbara County Building Safety Division twice a year if they have a property where a portion of the structure is within 20 feet of the bluff’s edge.
Lisa Plowman, the director of the county Planning and Development Department, said this will allow the county to get more precise measurements of the bluffs. In the past the county has had to rely on photos taken from the beach and drone imagery.
“Over the years, it’s been a challenge to track precisely how the bluff is eroding, and we’ve been handicapped because we can’t get on to all of the properties,” Plowman said.
“What we’ve been doing after big storms and high king tides is walk the beach, take photos, and then compare the photos to see where we see changes in the bluffs, but that’s not super precise.”
Plowman said this system will give the county a better idea of when properties need to be moved back or even vacated.
“We’re trying to be as proactive as we can about making sure that we can track what’s happening on the bluffs and then work with landowners to fix issues,” Plowman said. “We really want landowners to make sure that their facilities and their properties are up to code, and following our rules and regulations, because they’re in place to create safety and I think this will help us work with them to do that.”
Second District County Supervisor Laura Capps, who represents Isla Vista, said regularly conducting measurements will help prevent future tragedies.
“My job is to listen carefully and rapidly respond to the ever-changing needs of the community. The bluffs are eroding at an accelerated pace, making the balconies of these properties more dangerous than ever before for the students who live and gather there in overcrowded spaces,” she said in a statement.
The property measurements have to be completed by a California licensed surveyor or a licensed civil engineer and submitted to the county in April and October each year.
Plowman said the county chose deadlines in April and October in order to get measurements before and after the rainy winter season. If measurements are not submitted, property owners will receive a notice of violation from the county.
Since 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 in Isla Vista 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, including the county’s new bluff policy.
Property owners can submit questions or comments about the policy to Santa Barbara County Building Official Craig Johnson at johnsonc@countyofsb.org by June 25.
