Four ocean-view apartments on the 6700 block of Del Playa were evacuated when a deck collapsed this morning after the cliffs holding them up eroded drastically in the wake of the harsh weekend storms across Santa Barbara County. No one was injured, but 45 or more people were displaced, County Fire reported.
The building with the broken deck — 6745 Del Playa — is next door to the home where Benjamin ‘Benny’ Schurmer died last September, said Spencer Brandt, a member of the Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD). The property owners have been adamant in claiming that these properties do not have bluff erosion issues, Brandt added.
All four of the properties affected — 6741, 6743, 6745, and 6747 Del Playa Drive — were within 20 feet of the bluff face, as described in the county’s erosion monitoring report for January 2024. Once a property gets within 20 feet of the cliff’s edge, they are supposed to get a county letter requesting structural integrity and bluff stability reports. Only two of the affected properties received such a letter, though exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis, the county’s Isla Vista Bluff Policy states.