Isla Vista Balcony Collapses During Storm Days Before Deltopia

The ocean swallowed another Isla Vista balcony over Easter weekend. Rain storms have bombarded the patio of 6641 Del Playa Drive, with the most recent downpour causing a large chunk of the tiled deck to collapse into the water below. 

Isla Vista partygoers have been warned ahead of this weekend’s annual Deltopia — an unsanctioned event following students’ return from spring break — that the bluffs and balconies along Del Playa are dangerous and vulnerable to collapse, as the latest crumbled patio joins the catalog of cliffside properties being eaten by the ocean. 

Residents of the building, many of whom are students at UCSB, reported that this was the second time part of their balcony collapsed this year, dashing any hope for backyard activities.

Carl Lindberg, Isla Vista’s go-to building inspector with the county’s Building and Safety division, was called out to the site by the fire department on Sunday afternoon. The bluff failure, he said, happened around midnight on Saturday during the heaviest rain. 

After taping off the area and speaking with the residents, advising them to stay inside the caution tape, Lindberg contacted the property management team. However, as of Monday, the residents said they had yet to hear a peep from their landlord themselves. They plan to move out before the end of the year.

(The property’s management company, St. George & Associates, did not respond to requests for comment by Wednesday’s publication time.)

County crews put up a wooden fence when the first section of the balcony collapsed about a month ago. They returned this week to repair and relocate the fence closer to the apartment building and away from the eroding cliffside, completed Tuesday. 

“The building remains safe for occupancy,” Lindberg said. He added that the owner is now required to obtain a site-specific geotechnical report, per the County’s I.V. Bluff policy.  

“Before the recent failure, the report was strongly recommended,” he noted. “I am still getting and responding to emails about the site.”

As for the rest of the street, Lindberg mentioned that Planning & Development is working with all Del Playa Drive owners to increase the height of the fences to six feet, and County Supervisor Laura Capps’s office is helping with applications and funding for the required permits. 

Capps, whose district includes Isla Vista, released an eight-point plan in November to improve safety along the bluffs — including lighting, signs, and bathrooms — following the loss of Santa Barbara City College student Benjamin “Benny” Schurmer, who fell to his death over Labor Day weekend last year. 

This past February, the bluff’s instability led to the cave-in of an apartment building’s balcony on the 6700 block of Del Playa, forcing at least 45 people to evacuate. 

However, this kind of cliff fallout has been a long time coming. The county first put policies in place to mitigate the dangers of bluff erosion in 2004. 

The I.V. Bluff is looked at by a building inspector from the ocean side “several times every year,” particularly “after any major storm or earthquake,” said Craig Johnson, deputy director of the county’s Building and Safety Division.

Johnson added that an “advisory letter” was mailed to all I.V. Bluff property owners several weeks ago to remind them of a 2018 law requiring the regular inspection of “exterior elevated elements,” such as balconies. 

Still, that did not prevent this past weekend’s balcony devastation. On Tuesday, Capps visited the site and met with some of the tenants. 

“This latest patio collapse is yet another example of how volatile our I.V. bluffs can be — and why my team and I are working hard on a safety plan,” Capps said in a statement. “I’m extremely concerned, especially in the days leading up to Deltopia, where balconies and patios will be overcrowded during this unsanctioned event. This is an urgent call for property owners, residents, and the community to exercise extreme caution this weekend and always about bluff safety.”

Regarding Deltopia safety, the County Sheriff’s Office emphasized that Deltopia participants should remain on the proper side of fences or rails near the bluff’s edge to prevent potential injuries and fatal falls. In addition, all Isla Vista beaches will be closed for the weekend, April 5-7.