Over the last couple of months, informational faux-tickets have been appearing on Isla Vista residents’ windshields informing them of coming changes to parking enforcement. Since February, two new Isla Vista Community Services District parking compliance ambassadors have begun patrolling local streets.

Issued citations will follow Santa Barbara County’s bail schedule, and appeals will go through IVCSD. Nexus File Photo

The Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) deployed two parking compliance ambassadors, third-year environmental studies major Isaac Dugan and UC Santa Barbara alum Kaci Bardel, to distribute warnings before issuing citations, according to IVCSD Public Works & Sustainability Director Jenna Norton. Dugan and Bardel will distribute resources and directly engage with community members as part of the program.

“I was really interested in this job because of the safety issue I see [with] parking being in the community,” Bardel said. “I want to give people a chance to correct their behavior. I don’t want to be sitting there giving out tickets — no warning — if they’re already trying to move their car out of a red zone. I want people to feel comfortable talking to me and just having a good conversation.”

In the months leading up to enforcement, IVCSD led an outreach campaign which included placing “fake tickets” on windshields with information about parking laws, tabling and social media posts. 

When citations are issued, they will follow Santa Barbara County’s (SBC) bail schedule, and appeals will go through IVCSD. Jonathan Abboud, the IVCSD general manager, said that the ambassadors will not have a quota on the number of citations they are expected to write and that IVCSD’s goal is to write zero tickets. He added that Dugan and Bardel would be working on a “dynamic schedule.”

Norton emphasized the need for an I.V. parking enforcement agency as I.V. Foot Patrol (IVFP) could “spend all day writing tickets in Isla Vista if they wanted to.” According to Abboud, IVFP hired Julie Dixon, a UCSB alum and founder of Dixon Resources Unlimited, to deal with parking enforcement in the 1990s. However, the position was cut in the early 2000s. The ambassadors will take over at least some of the IVFP’s enforcement duties.

The IVFP did not respond to the Nexus’ request for comment. 

The program aims to give parking enforcement a “more localized touch,” according to Abboud. Norton said they plan to have ambassadors interact with the community by distributing NARCAN, fentanyl test strips, food vouchers and drinks.

“This is such a local program and we’re just trying to make it as nuanced and special as it possibly can be. We hope that this will be the most community-oriented parking program in history,” Norton said.

Abboud clarified that vehicles committing “egregious violations” would still be ticketed, while those committing more common violations, such as being slightly in a red zone, would initially receive warnings. He highlighted that I.V. has painted every curb in compliance with the state Daylighting Law, which became effective in 2025 and prohibits vehicles from parking or stopping within 20 feet of a crosswalk. 

Beyond the two new ambassadors, IVCSD has created other parking resources. On the Off-Street Parking Marketplace, Norton compiled a list of apartment complexes and property owners willing to rent parking spaces. Additionally, the IVCSD website provides information on parking compliance and alternative methods of transportation.

In 2023, IVCSD hired Dixon Resources Unlimited to conduct a study on parking in Isla Vista. Abboud said that the study found there are at least 1,000 unused off-street parking spaces and on-street parking is at 102% capacity.

“There’s already an invisible parking structure in I.V. that’s not being used with all these off-street parking spots. So we want to make sure that we fully utilize what we have,” Abboud said. 

In 2003, SBC created the “I.V. Master Plan,” which included a parking program. The planning document was a framework focused on fixing long-term issues in I.V. and was co-sponsored by UCSB and the Isla Vista Recreation and Parks District. 

The “I.V. Master Plan” was never implemented because it did not get certified by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The original parking program aimed to prioritize street parking for I.V. residents by limiting the hours non-residents were able to park. The CCC opposed the program, as it feared it would limit coastal access to the public. 

In 2016, an updated version of the “I.V. Master Plan” was proposed. However, SBC officials delayed its approval, and it was eventually abandoned. The CCC was not the only issue that contributed to the plan being dropped — in 2012, California Governor Jerry Brown passed the ABx1 26 bill, dissolving all redevelopment agencies (RDAs) in the state. This directly impacted funding for the project because prior to the formation of IVCSD, I.V. was dependent on its RDA to maintain expenses for the area. Without an RDA, the financial responsibility of implementing the plan would have fallen largely on SBC. 

I.V. would not see any plans to implement a parking program until 2022, when UCSB was sued by SBC. The terms of the settlement included a $3.7 million payment from UCSB so that the county could fund “direct community-facing projects.” $82,000 of it went toward funding IVCSD’s most recent parking study by Dixon Resources Unlimited. 

Abboud explained that because parking in I.V. has worsened due to lack of enforcement of “basic rules,” IVCSD hopes to first reach a “baseline” level of compliance. He and the IVCSD hope that once this is accomplished, other improvements such as more sidewalks, bike lanes and bus services will be possible. 

“It’s like squeezing a balloon, and then you see where the cars go. Do we enforce parking and they stay there and nothing changes? Do we enforce parking and some disappear? Do we enforce parking and some move on to the off-street parking spots? We need to see what happens so that we can make smarter decisions in the future,” Abboud said.

A version of this article appeared on p. 5 of the April 23 print edition of the Daily Nexus.