County, Cops Brace for Deltopia
Authorities Are Closing Beaches, Restricting Parking, and Patrolling the Streets
This Easter weekend, Isla Vistans will celebrate the sixth annual Deltopia, and authorities have announced several measures to discourage the unsanctioned street party from erupting as it did last year when 25,000 people swarmed the college town. For starters, hundreds of law enforcement officials will descend on the streets, overnight parking on campus lots will be restricted, and a number of events — strictly for UCSB students — will be held, including daytime activities on campus and a nighttime concert at the Thunderdome.
UCSB took to Twitter and Facebook to discourage out-of-towners from showing up, spreading the hashtag “KeepIVSafe.” The university sent letters to junior high and high school principals from Santa Maria to Oxnard asking them to discourage teenagers from making the trip to I.V. Also, Goleta has restricted street parking in adjacent neighborhoods to residents displaying parking passes from Saturday morning through Sunday morning.
In February, the county supervisors gave the green light to the Sheriff’s Office to implement during the first two weekends in April a holiday music ordinance, banning amplified music after 7 p.m., which is typically in effect during Halloween weekend. This Saturday and Sunday, the county will close Isla Vista beaches as it has every year since 2010 after Deltopia’s predecessor, Floatopia, trashed the beaches.
