Associated Students hosted an hour-long town hall meeting last night to discuss Halloween preparation in Isla Vista.
Representatives from the Isla Vista Foot Patrol, A.S., California Highway Patrol and UCSB Transportation & Parking Services spoke to approximately 30 people in I.V. Theater about DUI checkpoints, parking fees and other topics related to the upcoming weekend.
Concerning crowd control and alcohol citations, IVFP Lt. Brian Olmstead said over 250 officers will be patrolling I.V. throughout the holiday weekend, enforcing zero-tolerance alcohol policies.
“Last time we did 250 arrests and over 600 citations for alcohol citations,” Olmstead said. “I would love to see that statistic go down. I would like it to be a local event rather than an out-of-towner event; the out-of-towners do not respect Isla Vista.”
Olmstead urged students to take care of their friends if they have had too much to drink.
“If they are underage, we don’t care about that, we care more about getting them safe and saving lives,” Olmstead said.
In another preventative measure, traffic barricades will be erected south of Trigo Road Friday and Saturday evening, from 6:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.
There will also be a no-parking zone along all of Del Playa Drive. If DP residents fail to remove their cars by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, they will be towed.
Jason Ziebarth, Guest Services Manager for Transportation & Parking Services, assured students that TPS will provide UCSB students with a safe place to park their car over the weekend.
“We are going to be staffing all weekend to make sure the students in I.V. have a place to park during that weekend,” Ziebarth said.
Ziebarth also said that TPS will not be making a profit from the $25 fee for parking passes, which was covered by student fees last year.
“I know people think we are making money off the parking permits, but we are losing money off that,” Ziebarth said. “Obviously, there is a budget crisis going on right now, and that is a big part of it.”
Other streets may also be subject to barricades if pedestrian traffic becomes too heavy, according to Olmstead. If additional streets are closed, drivers will be asked to show proof of residence to gain access to those streets.
“We’ve gotta keep traffic moving,” Olmstead said. “If, in fact, traffic is not moving and there are several hundred people coming in, we are going to need to regulate the traffic.”
Olmstead said county medical workers will also be present during the I.V. Halloween weekend. The operation includes a medical evaluation center, several two-man teams of paramedics walking along Del Playa and a search and rescue team responding to medical calls.
More information is available at www.ucsbhalloween.com.
