Over the years, several young people have lost their lives falling from the bluffs in Isla Vista near UC Santa Barbara. In response, Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps has introduced a plan to make the bluffs safer.
The most recent accident was over Labor Day weekend when Santa Barbara City College student, Benjamin Schurmer, fell from the cliff in Isla Vista and died.
This is one of the many accidents that have happened late at night on weekends when young people gather above the steep cliffs.
Supervisor Capps (2nd district) wants to quickly improve safety in the area.
“We know of 13 fatalities in the last 30 years but they’re increasing in their succession,” Capps said.
There have been two fatalities in the last two years, and multiple injuries.
In partnership with relatives who lost loved ones, and local agencies like the Isla Vista Community Services District, Capps is proposing an eight-step plan to increase safety along the Isla Vista bluffs.
“Priority number one is higher fencing and that is something the county can do. We can increase fence heights to at least six feet. Right now, the requirement is four feet and four feet is easily hopped over,” she said.
The plan includes better lighting and planting prickly bushes to keep people away from the edge. Also, Capps said the plan would give law enforcement more tools for crowd control, and provide education about the hazards of partying near unstable cliffs.
“It’s a unique situation where you have a highly concentrated group of young people, you have drug and alcohol use on the rise, you have erosion. All of these factors make it incredibly clear the imperative to do more,” she said.
Capps will introduce her plan at a County supervisors meeting in November.
