Heather Havens is a mother living with pain no parent should have to face. It's the loss of a son. He was one more than a dozen young men, and woman who have lost their lives in falls over cliffs in a Santa Barbara County neighborhood which largely caters to college students.
"He was 25...he turned 26 four days later. I signed his death certificate on his 26th birthday," said Havens.
Havens said her son, Chasen Alabrando went to and graduated from UC Santa Barbara. Last year, he returned to Isla Vista for a reunion party. He was at some apartments on Del Playa Drive, better known as DP. The privately owned apartments are prime student housing, with ocean views and balconies which literally hang over the cliffs.
"He was on a balcony, with a group of probably 30 people. He jumped over to go to the next party. But, there was no ground on the other side. It was completely eroded under the balcony. He fell 50 feet," said Havens.
Havens couldn’t bring herself to visit the scene, until now. The death of yet another student who fell over the cliffs just a few weeks ago prompted her to come out, to try to do something to address the problem.
There have been 13 deaths from people falling over Del Playa’s cliffs during the last three decades. Alcohol and drugs are believed to have been factors in most of them. In some cases, it was people who were impaired looking for a place to go to the bathroom, and stumbling over the edge.
"These accident happen after 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights," said Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps, who represents Isla Vista. She’s launched a new effort to address the deadly problem.
"After talking with the moms of who have died on our bluffs, after talking to stakeholders, what are the highest priorities. We've put them all together, and we made an eight-point plan," said Capps. "Number one is fence height, we have to raise or fence heights."
Several years ago, fencing was added to parts of the bluffs, but it’s easy to climb over. The proposal is to taking fencing from four to six feet, and perhaps even adding prickly vegetation to discourage people from climbing it.
They’ve already added porta potties at strategic spots along the bluffs. Another key idea is ramping up alcohol and drug enforcement.
Brad Wells is Commander of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office South County Operations Division.
"We're very excited to be working with Supervisor Capps office about changes in the social host ordinance. There's been a lot of parties, alcohol fueled parties, that the Isla Vista Foot Patrol (Sheriff's deputies) would just have to walk past. We really couldn't do any enforcement.
Social Host ordinances can be used to discourage large parties. Depending on the wording, hosts and even landlords can be fined or ticketed for parties where underage people are served, or there are other major issues,
Education is also considered vital. With new students every year, those trying to address the situation say it has to be an ongoing process.
Ana Esquivel is hoping something good will come in the wake of the series of tragedies. Her son, Alessandro, died from an Isla Vista cliff fall in 2018.
"He was a sophomore at UCSB...very charismatic, very smart." said Esquivel.
To this day, she doesn’t know exactly what led to his deadly fall over the cliffs.
As she stands in Walter Capps Park, near a section of the cliffs, she says she hopes that something good will come out of this effort. She doesn’t want to see yet another family have to experience the pain of losing a loved one.
Even as Esquivel is trying to help with this effort, she’s also preparing for a tough anniversary. October 20 marks the fifth anniversary of her son’s death on an Isla Vista beach.
