An Isla Vista apartments owner is suing the Poppin party app over a Deltopia party held at its properties last month, alleging nuisance and negligence.

Deltopia is the annual unsanctioned street party held in Isla Vista the first weekend of UC Santa Barbara’s spring quarter. It draws thousands of college students and others, and this year’s crowd was the largest it’s been in years.  

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office reported that Deltopia weekend, on April 8-9, had a big increase in arrests, citations and medical calls compared to recent years.

There’s been a major push since the 2014 riots to keep Deltopia “safe and local,” but it continues to be a popular destination for out-of-town college students.

House parties are nothing new for Deltopia weekend, but this year, the Poppin party app organized events at four Isla Vista properties and sold $35 tickets in advance.

As Noozhawk contributing writers Jacob Davis and Garret Harcourt reported at the time, some UCSB students pushed back against this monetization of Deltopia, and most party hosts didn’t use Poppin.

In a civil complaint filed last week, the owners of 6613 & 6619 Del Playa Drive accuse Poppin and Red Jooce Project of nuisance, negligence and unfair competition for promoting and organizing the Deltopia Music Festival at their property.

Red Jooce Project set up equipment and played music at the property on April 8, according to the lawsuit.

The Santa Barbara County Superior Court case was filed by attorney Paul Burns representing Oceanside Investments, LP.

Oceanside Investments is associated with Santa Barbara Property Group, which has these two 8-apartment properties available for sale on its website.

The complaint alleges the defendants knew or should have known “that by mass marketing the POPPIN’S Deltopia Music Festival and by selling an excessive numbers of tickets to attendees, all without Plaintiff’s authorization, that such conduct would overcrowd Plaintiff’s subject property, and that minors and others would consume alcohol, recreational drugs and illegal substances and engage in reckless and injurious behavior.”

The lawsuit cites Sheriff’s Office reports of emergency medical calls for alcohol intoxication, drug overdoses, and people injured from jumping off and falling off balconies at and near the property on April 8, the Saturday of Deltopia weekend.

“Upon information and belief at POPPIN’S Deltopia Music Festival event, multiple people jumped from balconies at Plaintiff’s subject property, three people fell from balconies, including from Plaintiff’s subject property, and two cases of such falls required hospitalization,” the lawsuit alleges.

The complaint also alleges unfair competition, saying that the property owner “has been damaged in its reputation and lost time and money as a result of defendants unlawful business practices and nuisance activities.”

It asks the court for an injunction stopping Poppin and Red Jooce Project from selling tickets to any music events at the property in the future, and for monetary damages.

Neither of the defendants had filed responses in Superior Court as of Tuesday.

A case management conference for the civil case is scheduled in August.