The Isla Vista Community Service District Board of Directors voted on Dec. 2 to not endorse the Isla Vista Foot Patrol’s proposed 72-hour festival ordinance for Deltopia weekend. According to a post previously made by the IVCSD, the Board waited to hear from community members before taking a stance on the ordinance.

According to Schmidt, there will be the same amount of police, emergency services and fire department presence this year, even if the ordinance passes. Jack Dindia / Daily Nexus

Deltopia is the annual unsanctioned street festival held on the first weekend of Spring quarter. The Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP) is proposing a 72-hour festival ordinance on Deltopia weekend, effectively cancelling the event because the festival draws on many county resources and has led to several casualties.

The meeting began with a public comment unrelated to the proposed ordinance. One community member asked for a disclosure about what the Board has done with state funding for warming centers, temporary shelters open during colder times of year, calling the Board “very negligent.”

IVFP Lieutenant Joe Schmidt then gave a presentation on the proposed ordinance, including the history and costs of Deltopia. Schmidt also addressed claims that IVFP didn’t consult the community by highlighting a list of community stakeholders he had met with to discuss the ordinance.

“There’s a narrative circulating that this ordinance was pushed without community input, and that is not the case,” Schmidt said. “For several months, the sheriff’s office has met with numerous stakeholders from the Isla Vista, UCSB and neighboring communities to discuss the proposal and solicit input for other options.” 

The Board then questioned Schmidt about the ordinance. Fourth-year political science major and IVCSD Vice President Edward Pilotte asked if those who violate the noise ordinance would be given warnings before receiving a citation, to which Schmidt responded no. 

Third-year political science and environmental studies double major and IVCSD Director Kylan Hobart highlighted that it’s up to law enforcement’s discretion on how they enforce the ordinance. Hobart then asked Schmidt if he could give any assurances about what police may or may not enforce. Schmidt said the spirit of the law is to crack down on large, out-of-town parties, but he couldn’t make any guarantees on what officers will and will not count as a violation of the ordinance.

“I can’t give you a black and white ‘here’s the line where we’re going to absolutely write tickets, and this is where we’re not,’” Schmidt said. “I’m not going to say that somebody is not going to get a ticket because they have three people in the front yard playing music.”

Hobart also asked if any efforts would be made to educate out-of-town law enforcement about Isla Vista, to which Schmidt said that he would include the history of I.V. in his briefing before the next Deltopia. 

According to Schmidt, there will be the same amount of police, emergency services and fire department presence this year, even if the ordinance passes. IVCSD President Spencer Brandt asked when Schmidt foresaw reducing law enforcement’s presence at Deltopia. Schmidt said that law enforcement is scaled to crowd sizes, and the hope is that decreased crowds will allow for fewer officers.

The meeting then opened up to public comment on the proposed ordinance. Representing the Isla Vista Business Association and owner of Mesa Pizza, Virandra Singh voiced concerns that the ordinances would hurt local restaurants that wouldn’t be allowed to play music during Deltopia weekend.

Multiple long-term residents reiterated Deltopia’s toll on the community and environment, urging the board to endorse the proposed ordinance. One long-term resident added that the money spent on Deltopia could be better used for community resources.

“The residents in I.V. have been subjected to booming, amplified music that can be heard blocks away. Decibels are higher than 60 decibels, which is the current noise ordinance for Santa Barbara County,” the resident said. “I challenge the Isla Vista community, the [IV]CSD, the UCSB students, to make better use of the close to a million dollars that [have] previously gone to the cost of hosting deltopia, one that would actually better serve the needs of this community.”  

Several Associated Students (A.S.) representatives spoke against the ordinance, arguing that it will be ineffective, result in over-policing and hasn’t been made in collaboration with the community. Senator and third-year economics and philosophy double major Noah Luken also argued that the community would be better represented if I.V. were granted cityhood.

“We as community members have no representation in the final decision-making,” Luken said. “How can we ensure as community members that our voices are heard in decisions like this being made in the future? And I believe that is through a centralized government in I.V., namely a city.”

The Board then went into deliberation before voting. IVCSD Director and County Representative Carrie Topliffe said a noise ordinance was not a good solution to the issues posed by Deltopia. 

“The fact that three people listening to an iPhone on their front lawn could be a violation that would be up to an officer’s discretion whether or not they enforced it; that bothers me,” Topliffe said. “As much as I think we need to do something, I just don’t feel convinced that doing this is going to do what we want it to do.”

Pilotte said that he would vote against the ordinance because police enforcement without an alternative event would not be successful. He pointed towards California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s sanctioned festival on campus which aims to draw people away from “St. Fratty’s” celebrations.

Brandt said he was concerned that the ordinance would require IVCSD to go through the Santa Barbara County (SBC) Board of Supervisors to permit any future sanctioned event during Deltopia weekend. According to Brandt, the permitting process can be difficult to navigate and would be largely “out of [IVCSD’s] control.” He was also concerned that the ordinance may prohibit a 21+ beer garden and cannot be amended before being heard by the Board of Supervisors.

Third-year anthropology and global studies double major and IVCSD Director Annabelle Sipos then motioned for the board to vote to take a stance against the ordinance, which IVCSD Director Katherine Carmichael seconded. The Board subsequently voted unanimously in favor of the motion, not endorsing the ordinance.

The SBC Board of Supervisors will vote on the proposed ordinance during its Jan. 13 meeting.