As Deltopia looms, UCSB and law enforcement cautiously optimistic

Deltopia, Isla Vista’s community-wide block party, is informally scheduled to return April 2 as law enforcement, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County agencies and the city of Goleta prepare for large crowds of college-age revelers.

While Deltopia 2014 ended in riots, police injuries and tear gas, 2015 witnessed a greater keep-it-local effort among residents and an unprecedented zero citations for noise violations, according to Isla Vista Foot Patrol Lt. Rob Plastino.

This year, “we are cautiously optimistic that we are going to have a safe and successful Deltopia,” said Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

“We’re expecting that it will be relatively well behaved — I don’t even know if I’d say ‘relatively’ — I think it will be well behaved,” said UCSB’s Andrea Estrada, acting director of news and media relations in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications. “And all of our preparations have been to make that happen.”

Hoover said the augmented law enforcement presence from past years will be back, with several hundred sheriff’s deputies, University of California police officers, CHP officers and county Fire Department investigators patrolling the event throughout the weekend.

Isla Vista is already subject to the county noise ordinance — nothing audible from the street starting at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday.

But the Isla Vista-only Outdoor Festival Ordinance will be in effect April 1 through 3 — meaning that no live or recorded music can be audible from outside a property starting at 6 p.m. Failure to comply will cost residents up to $500 and a misdemeanor on their record.

In an effort to protect vehicles and deter out-of-towners from attending, parking restrictions in both Isla Vista and a nearby swath of Goleta will be implemented.

Starting at 7 a.m. April 2, police roadblocks will be restricting vehicle access to Del Playa Drive and Sabado Tarde and Trigo roads from the 6500 to the mid-6800 blocks. All residents in the cordoned-off area will have to move their cars elsewhere beforehand.

On April 1, UCSB police will run a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint at an undisclosed location nearby.

UCSB has been contacting colleges and universities from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and east to Bakersfield, asking them to deter their students from coming as well as holding them responsible for doing so, said Debbie Fleming, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs.

Unlike years past, there is no student-run Facebook page promoting Deltopia and providing would-be revelers with all the necessary logistics.

Instead, a UCSB social media campaign that began March 8 is running ads on Facebook, Instagram and even Pandora, encouraging students to stay safe, not invite friends and take pride in the community — and warning nonlocals.

“The idea is for people outside of the area to have the idea that there are going to be consequences, and it’s just not going to be a whole lot of fun,” Estrada said.

For a second consecutive year, UCIV, a UCSB Associated Students program that collaborates with law enforcement, will be roaming Isla Vista, warning parties when the festival ordinance is about to take effect, offering advice, calling in medical services when needed, and handing out water, snacks and condoms.

Ashcon Minoiefar, an Associated Students senator, said the program is shooting for 100 volunteers.

“I’d just say we’re not complacent,” Hoover said.

“We realize that we still need to be prepared for a large crowd and for any incidents that arise, but we are really pleased with what we’ve seen in Isla Vista at both Deltopia and Halloween, and are hoping for the same level of cooperation from everyone that we’ve seen recently.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 3:42 PM with the headline "As Deltopia looms, UCSB and law enforcement cautiously optimistic."