The family of a woman who sustained severe injuries after falling off a cliff from a vacant lot on the 6700 block of Del Playa Drive has leveled a $25 million negligence claim against the owners of the property.

Santa Barbara County, the Isla Vista Recreation and Park District, and UCSB are all listed in the claim as responsible for failing to correct several safety hazards that allegedly resulted in San Francisco resident Emily King’s plunge from the property on the night of Sept. 19, 2004.

Michael Moore, the King family’s attorney, said King, who suffered head trauma, spinal fractures and internal injuries from the fall, was found lying on the beach early the next morning and is currently in the process of rehabilitation — almost seven months after the incident. An attachment to the claim document did not specify exactly where the woman fell, but the only vacant lot on the 6700 block of DP that does not have a fence is the stretch of blufftop land between 6709 and 6741 DP, a portion of which the county recently agreed to purchase from its private owner.

Moore said King’s mother decided to file the claim because she felt that her daughter’s accident was caused by unsafe conditions near the cliff — including the lack of adequate fencing, warning signs and lighting — that should have been rectified by the lot’s owners.

“They had a responsibility to see that the property was kept in a safe manner,” Moore said. “The saying is that it’s better to have a fence on the cliff above than an ambulance in the valley below. It’s just a saying, but in this case it’s especially applicable.”

In addition to the monetary damages sought in the claim, Moore said one of the goals is to convince the parties responsible for the land to do what they can to prevent more people from being injured like King was.

“First, we want to get the responsible parties to compensate Emily for the injuries she suffered,” Moore said. “Second, we hope that we can promote some changes in the behavior of the owners of the property in question.”

Moore said the parties named in the claim — which was filed in the middle of March 2005 — are given 45 days to review and either accept or reject the claim and will likely make their decisions near the end of April. If the claim is rejected, Moore said the King family plans to file a lawsuit over the matter.

Moore said he is still looking at the role of the California Highway Patrol and the City of Santa Barbara in the control of the property, and may file claims against those organizations if he determines that they contributed the conditions that resulted in King’s fall.

“We’re still analyzing the ownership and control of the property in question,” Moore said.

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