As part of an effort to address parking issues in Isla Vista, the Isla Vista Community Services District Board of Directors aims to implement a new parking compliance program in November, as discussed in an Oct. 28 meeting.
The parking plan’s main objectives are to address health and safety concerns, solve mobility issues and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Nexus file photo
The plan is a continuation of Santa Barbara County’s (SBC) efforts to establish a parking program in I.V., which was originally included in its I.V. Master Plan, passed in 2007 by the SBC Planning & Development department, which was known at the time as the SBC Planning Commission.
The plan’s main objectives are to address health and safety concerns, solve mobility issues for pedestrians and disabled individuals and lower greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this, it will enforce statewide parking regulations.
Parking has been a longstanding concern in I.V. due to high on-street parking occupancies. According to a previous presentation by Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) General Manager Jonathan Abboud, several streets in I.V. regularly have 60-100% parking occupancy.
In order to gradually introduce the enforcement of parking, the IVCSD will unveil a parking compliance program mascot to the public that caters toward Gen Z according to Myah Mashhadialireza, IVCSD’s Community Programs and Engagement director. The mascot, named Tina the Toad, serves to educate the I.V. community about parking laws in a “non-threatening” way.
“Tina is a toad who is sick of hopping around, looking for parking in Isla Vista. She cares about the safety of Isla Vista and wants you to totally care too,” Mashhadialireza said.
Campaigns with Tina the Toad will consist of tablings, banners and giveaways. They plan on having a banner above Pardall Tunnel featuring Tina so that students are reminded of the parking situation in I.V. Slips that are designed to appear as parking tickets with Tina the Toad will be placed on cars in I.V. with guidelines on safe and legal parking.
Sue Dixon, an I.V. resident for the last 40 years, expressed her concern for their own and others safety with the lack of parking enforcement.
“I personally have a lot of trouble with my driveway,” Dixon said. “I don’t feel safe pulling out because cars are parked so close in on it that I can’t see what’s coming.”
The plan includes parking alternatives, such as off-street parking exchanges with property owners that would promote on-site parking for potential residents. A list can be found on the IVCSD website’s parking FAQ section.
In addition, the Isla Vista Food Cooperative offers a complimentary membership as a way to enable I.V. residents to shop locally for groceries. This discourages the need to commute to grocery stores that are not in the I.V. area. However, if there is a need to drive, IVCSD promotes transportation alternatives such as the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) bus line and The Wave, a microtransit service operated by the Santa Barbara MTD.
The IVCSD has been promoting alternative forms of transportation already.
“We’ve just been doing so much work on alternative transportation awareness that it’ll just become a more and more regular part of our operations,” Abboud said.
Once all technical parts are completed, the IVCSD will begin testing out enforcement through ticketing cars that are visibly not in compliance with established guidelines. However, in April, there will be a zero-tolerance policy on any parked car not following regulations. Ticket prices have not been set at this time.
The IVCSD set a budget and secured funding for the plan between April and June,
and the plan should be implemented by November based on a set timeline. According to Abboud, the plan will cost the IVCSD $176,168 to operate for a year, and would have to issue around one parking ticket per hour to earn revenue neutrality, or break even.
The program will be managed by three to five staff members — including a project manager and parking ambassadors — from the IVCSD’s Public Works & Sustainability Department, who will be responsible for issuing tickets, customer service and community outreach on car alternatives.
A version of this article appeared on p. 3 of the Oct. 30 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
