Santa Barbara County unveils new bluff erosion policy in Isla Vista

ISLA VISTA, Calif. - Santa Barbara County is rolling out a revised bluff erosion policy for the 84 properties sitting against the bluffs on Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista.

The new policy tightens the buffer distance between properties and the edge of the bluff. Third District Representative Gina Fischer said notices about the new policy were sent in the mail to property owners this week.

“We want to make sure that people, the tenants of Isla Vista, are safe,” Fischer said Wednesday.

The County will now send a “Notice to Vacate” for portions of any structure—including a building or deck—within 10 feet of the bluff. The previous buffer was five feet.

According to the County, no properties currently need to vacate, however. The County will still determine required action on a site-specific basis.

Only six properties on Del Playa currently meet the County's new 10-foot threshold. One was already voluntarily demolished, one was already voluntarily vacated, two have supportive caissons and are on a different notification tract, and two have only a gentle slope or seawall below and are on a different notification tract.

Properties within 10-15 feet must hire a geotechnical expert within six months to evaluate the soil and seismic safety of the building. Those reports will then be sent back to the County and peer reviewed by a third party.

After that review, a decision will be made on whether the property is safe, or if it needs to vacate tenants or cut back a structure.

“Action may need to be taken,” Fischer said. “So tenants should be aware that there may need to be cut-back actions on those properties. We don’t know until those studies come back.”

This all comes after a massive bluff collapse on Del Playa three years ago. 

“It exceeded 10 feet, which was more than had ever been recored,” Fischer said.

The county then hired a firm to study the collapse and determine a safe distance from the edge for cliffside properties.

But some current property owners, who wish to remain anonymous, say they believe that collapse was man-made--not from natural erosion--and that the firm’s report was flawed.

The County says the fact that the collapse happened at all is enough to put this new policy in place.

“From the County’s perspective, it’s irrelevant which of those factors or combination of those factors might cause a bluff collapse,” Fischer said. “The point is that we want to make sure buildings are set back far enough so that if there is collapse or failure, human life is safe.”

Some property owners say the County could do even more to keep Del Playa’s tenants safe.

One former oceanfront owner says County officials should be regularly walking on the beach and checking these cliffside properties for erosion, not just after a rainstorm, when erosion speeds up.

A current owner, who did not want to be identified, agrees that enforcement should be more consistent and more proactive instead of reactive.

As for the students who live on the edge of the bluff, even those who are not worried about where they live recognize that erosion presents a dangerous concern for some.

“I feel safe in my area, but definitely in other places it’s like, you have full decks hanging off [the edge],” UC Santa Barbara fourth-year Cheyne Rullo said. “I prefer not to go on those decks. Just a little sketchy for me.”

To view the entire policy, click here.