The Role of the County
In order to fully capitalize on the profit potential of this
opportunity, a plan was hatched to zone Isla Vista for maximum
occupancy. This is where the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors
came into play. Today, the highest-price apartments in Isla
Vista are along Del Playa and they are packed like sardines
in a can. Although they have little off-street parking, they
are built right up to the edge of the bluff, leaving owners
begging to build seawalls in recent years. Even inland, there
are a lot more cars than parking places and several areas have
densities unmatched in the state. In fact, it has been estimated
that Isla Vista's half-square-mile residential section is the
most densely populated community west of the Mississippi River.
A 1970 issue of Probe explains how this happened.
In the early 1960s, the Board of Supervisors formed a committee
to "investigate" zoning for Isla Vista. The committee was made
up of John Harlan, Signal Oil's I.V. property manager, Jack
Schwartz, an I.V. realtor, and Carl Chandler, an Isla Vista
property owner and the assistant to Dan Grant, the County Supervisor
for Isla Vista and Goleta. What they came up with was a custom-made
plan, unique in the state, called "Student-Residential" zoning.
An "S" prefix on regular R-2 (duplexes) or R-4 (multi-story
apartments) zoning meant that such areas did not have to conform
to the usual minimum set backs from either the street or bluff,
did not have to have the usual number of parking spaces per
bedroom, etc., etc. The "S" designation also promoted the combination
of lots to enable construction of larger apartment buildings
than would have been allowed in other parts of the county.
Many people protested this plan, but the Board of Supervisors
listened only to what they wanted to hear. In Swartz's now infamous
speech before the Board of Supervisors in favor of the "SR"
zoning plan, he stated: "These kids arrive here with a sleeping
bag and a surf board." The Isla Vista we have come to know was
thrown together in the next few years - 34% paved over and 96%
renters.
At the same time, the entire Goleta Valley, including Isla Vista,
grew from 19,000 residents in 1960 to 69,000 in 1970.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
home
