Santa Barbara County officials crack down on unsanctioned Deltopia spring break rager
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The future of Deltopia, an annual unsanctioned street party that draws thousands of college students and is often marked by chaos and arrests, is uncertain after Santa Barbara County supervisors approved a 72-hour ban on amplified music that would coincide with the event.During its Jan.
13 board meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved the ban, which would fall on the first weekend of UC Santa Barbara’s spring quarter, when thousands of college students flood Isla Vista for Deltopia.The vote came after a presentation from local authorities, who cited the dangers of Deltopia over the years, including two deaths, a 2013 balcony collapse, a riot the following year that lasted several hours and multiple cases of people suffering alcohol overdoses.The Santa Barbara Independent reported that the supervisors will vote on a second and final reading of the ordinance on January 27.The party, made popular among UC Santa Barbara students who live in Isla Vista near the campus, was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic but resumed in 2022, resulting in multiple arrests and citations during the weekend-long event.Isla Vista Foot Patrol Lt.
Joe Schmidt told the board that an estimated 30,000 people turned out for Deltopia last year.He said there were 485 citations issued, 84 arrests, one firearm seized from someone from out of town and 122 medical calls in the Isla Vista area to Emergency Medical Services.
California Officials warn of ticket scams, steep cliffs and drug overdoses at Deltopia — SoCal’s massive unsanctioned spring break partySchmidt said a proposed alternative had been to allow Deltopia to continue but to seal off Isla Vista to prevent out of towners from entering by using roadblocks and checkpoints.He said based on the size of the community, “these measures are not logistically possible.”“For 16 years, the county of Santa Barbara has been grappling with severa...