With the new school year underway at UCSB, Santa Barbara County officials are working to create a safer community with a new 8-Point Plan to improve the hazardous conditions along the bluffs in Isla Vista.
“I’m committed to keeping the community safe and that starts with children and our young people,” said Laura Capps, Santa Barbara County District 2 Supervisor.
Supervisor Laura Capps spoke Thursday afternoon at Walter Capps Park in Isla Vista about a new 8-Point Plan.
This meeting comes after Benjamin Schurmer — a student who was attending Santa Barbara City College died after falling from the bluffs.
Schurmer is one of thirteen people who have died following an incident along the Isla Vista bluffs.
“This is an 8-Point Plan for safety. The first being higher fences. That’s the priority that the community, that the moms who lost young ones have identified as,” said Capps. “That’s the highest priority, so fencing is where we’re starting but we’re not stopping there.”
Supervisor Capps is working closely with the Isla Vista Community Services District and the Board of Supervisors to raise the minimum fence requirement from 4 feet to 6 feet.
That is just one of eight points. The other seven include better lighting, warning signs, bathrooms, education on bluff safety, adding more plants to make the bluffs difficult to access, a memorial for the lives lost, and strengthening the ability of law enforcement.
“I’m committed to putting in place the urgent changes and to improve safety measures that are already here. We see this fence. We see the warning signs but we need to do more,” said Capps.
Lt. Garrett TeSlaa with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office addressed that he wants to improve the current ordinances to meet the demands in the community.
“There isn’t a law in the county ordinances right now that gives us any authority to shut down a party or to prohibit someone from climbing the fence, so one of the parts of the plan is to review what the current ordinances say, maybe how we can clean up some of that language, or propose new language to make it clearer to people that this is a serious danger,” said TeSlaa.
Ana Esquivel is a mother who lost her son Alessandro Esquivel — a former UCSB student — who passed away his sophomore year after falling off a cliff in October 2020.
Esquivel shared her son’s story at the press conference hoping it can provide change in the community of Isla Vista.
“We heard about this press conference and about the work that Supervisor Capp is doing and we wanted to be part of it,” said Esquivel. “It was about time that somebody did something and that people actually pay attention.”
Two Santa Barbara City College students are honoring Benny Schurmer's memory by taking proactive steps towards safeguarding the community’s well-being with a petition on Change.org that already has more than 10,000 signatures.
“Basically we’re just trying to promote advocacy from like representatives and pretty much anybody with authority to make infrastructure changes, and just to bring community awareness,” said Grace W., a Santa Barbara City College student.
“Our end goal is meaningful and substantial change which has not been seen over the course of 13 deaths,” said Luca K., a Santa Barbara City College student.
Supervisor Capps hopes to have the plan passed this November. She needs the approval of three other supervisors. For funding, Capps says they will seek county dollars for fencing and fee waivers. They plan to partner with agencies like local colleges to help with the other initiatives.
For more information regarding cliff and bluff safety, you can visit the Isla Vista Community Services District website for further details.
