Isla Vista beaches will be closed this weekend

Santa Barbara County is closing the Isla Vista beaches this weekend.

Officials say it’s due to the unpermitted “Floatopia” event that is expected to bring thousands to the area.

The Santa Barbara County Community Services Department says the closure is being declared to prevent a re-occurrence of the conditions that resulted from the 2009 Floatopia.

That event overwhelmed the beach area and caused health and safety concerns.

The county said trash was strewn throughout the area and the debris included human waste. There was inadequate sanitation and items that were left behind ended up in the ocean.

The Floatopia event is not sponsored, sanctioned, or permitted.

It has, however, been widely promoted through social media.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department will enforce the beach closure.

In the last few years, with the beach closed, the event moved to Del Playa Avenue in Isla Vista and was renamed “Deltopia” by local residents. That gathering was also a massive day long water related event with squirt guns, water balloons, and lightweight pools full of water on many properties.

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