The college town by the sea has a trash problem. 

With thousands of residents living in the less than 2 square miles of Isla Vista, the dense population produces large amounts of trash, leading to littered streets and overflowing bins, according to the county.

To address the issue, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved new rules on Tuesday.

It mandated a single waste account per property; updated the size and number of trash containers required per property that is based on the number of bedrooms; and made property owners and management responsible for paying for trash service.

Jenna Norton, the public works and sustainability director for the Isla Vista Community Services District, said trash cans are often so full that the lids can’t attach to secure the trash, which allows animals to access the garbage, and when coastal winds knock bins over, trash spills out. 

“Increased service requirements and the use of containers with attached lids directly addresses the structural causes of litter in Isla Vista,” Norton said. “They focus on prevention rather than relying solely on cleanup after the fact, and this is definitely going to save public dollars from continuous litter pickup by stopping it at the source.”

For the past 30 years, properties in Isla Vista with multiple units were required to have at least one 32-gallon trash container per bedroom, with a detachable lid, picked up twice a week. 

Carlyle Johnston, ReSource Center manager, said the cans can fit only a few trash bags at a time, lids get lost, and they take up more room on a property than having fewer larger containers. 

The new rules mandate larger containers per bedroom.

For example, a property with three bedrooms would need to have two 95-gallon trash bins, a property with seven bedrooms would need to have four 95-gallon bins and two 35-gallon bins, and a property with 10 or 11 bedrooms would need to have two dumpsters.

The new rules also mandate only one trash service account per property, to be paid for by the property owner or management company. However, adjacent properties could share one account. 

Currently, one property could have multiple waste accounts on file paid for by tenants, property management or property owners. 

Johnston explained that having tenants sign up for trash service results in more containers on a property, rather than fewer larger containers, and leads to some units not paying for trash services. 

Jonathan Abboud, general manager of the Isla Vista Community Services District, said residents already don’t get street sweeping because of congested parking, and the district wants to focus more on the outcome, rather than just the amount of litter getting picked up. 

“Working with the county on this ordinance and keeping our eyes and ears on the ground and keeping our litter pickup program going is going to be important, and we’d love to collect no litter eventually,” Abboud said. “Our residents deserve clean streets just like everybody else.”

The county ordinance also mandates year-round trash service, unless a property has been vacated for 60 days. Many of the homes in Isla Vista are rented to UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College students, and the area is less populated during the summer school breaks.

Additionally, trash containers have to be hidden from public view, but property owners will have until July 1, 2028, to find a space for trash containers. 

Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps, who represents Isla Vista, said she was optimistic that the rules will be a turn in the right direction. 

“All the trash cleanups are still going to happen — I know they will because there’s such a dedicated team of people — but we need more help, and help is on the way,” Capps said.  

The new rules also mean a change to trash service fees for property owners and managers, which will be presented to the Board of Supervisors in June. The new requirements will be enforced starting July 1.