Death of ‘Benny’ Schurmer Sparks Countywide Effort on Isla Vista Cliff Safety

When 19-year-old Santa Barbara City College student Benjamin “Benny” Schurmer suffered a fatal fall from a cliff in Isla Vista on September 2, his death reopened old wounds in the community. What happened to Schurmer was an all-too-familiar reminder of just how dangerous coast-side cliffs can be: Since 1994, he was the 13th person to fall to their death in Isla Vista.

In the weeks since the incident, friends and family of Schurmer and past victims have been working alongside community organizations and government officials to address the situation on the bluffs, and on Thursday local officials gathered in a seaside park in Isla Vista, where Supervisor Laura Capps revealed an eight-point safety plan for the bluffs, starting with new, higher fencing along the cliffside.

Supervisor Capps was joined by representatives from the Isla Vista Community Services District, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office, SBCC, and UCSB, which welcomed a new batch of students with the first day of classes the same day.

The group stood near the edge of the park overlooking the bluffs, with Capps standing beside two mothers who had previously lost children in fatal accidents on the Isla Vista cliffs. The two mothers held portraits of their sons, while Capps held in her hands a yellow folder with Schurmer’s photo across the front as a reminder of her pledge to do everything in her power to prevent any future incidents. 

“Their courage is unspeakable, just to be back here,” Capps said of the two mothers: Ana Esquivel, who lost her son Alessandro Esquivel in 2018; and Heather Havens, whose son Chasen Alibrando lost his life in a similar accident in 2022. “Their presence is more powerful than any words I could say as a supervisor.”

Both mothers spoke up, saying that their shared tragedy has brought them together and that they hope this latest incident helps to push the county toward more preventative measures. 

“It’s easy to blame the victims, but that will only guarantee more victims,” Esquivel said. ”It’s time for action — for better fencing, for investments to be made by the property owners and the county for policy decisions that prioritize the welfare of the young people who help fuel the local economy, and for those who have lost kids to these cliffs to know by your actions that their beautiful children did not die in vain.”

At the event, Capps revealed an eight-point plan to address bluff safety, starting with an amendment to the county code that would require a minimum fence height of six feet along the cliffs. The change would increase the current minimum height by two feet, and Capps is planning on putting the new height limit before the Board of Supervisors for approval before November 7.

These changes would apply to both county and private property along the bluffs, and Capps said that the county would try to streamline the process for the 70 private property owners within the area to ensure that all could upgrade as quickly as possible.

The updates to the fencing are in line with the requests made by close friends of Schurmer, who recently started a petition urging authorities to take immediate action to address “inadequate infrastructure and insufficient warning systems” in Isla Vista.

“Absolutely preventable tragedies are happening repeatedly, and something needs to be done,” said SBCC student Grace Wilson, one of Schurmer’s friends who was also in attendance at Thursday’s event.

“We are sharing the petition with the intention of raising community awareness surrounding the issue,” Wilson said, “and to bring justice and comfort to the loved ones of those who’ve lost their lives in this tragic way.”

In just two weeks, the petition has received more than 10,600 signatures, with the group of students asking that local officials enhance fencing infrastructure, publicly advocate for safety and caution, and install portable restrooms to prevent partygoers from venturing into dangerous cliffside areas.

The eight-point plan introduced by Capps addresses all three of the requests made in the petition, including several more measures requested by community organizations, such as increasing lighting, replacing warning signs that are often stolen as souvenirs, and installing prickly shrubbery along the cliffs to discourage walking along the edges.

The plan also addresses the need for education and enforcement for partygoers along Del Playa, which is a notorious hotspot for drug and alcohol use, especially during peak times like Halloween, Deltopia, and the first and last weeks of school.

“It is essential to acknowledge that alcohol and drug use have played roles in some of the cliff falls that have occurred in Isla Vista over the years,” Capps said. “Efforts to address these issues have included ongoing education and awareness campaigns aimed at promoting responsible behavior and personal safety, particularly during events like Deltopia and other gatherings.”

One major component to Capps’s plan is the suggestion that the community build a memorial for the 13 victims that have lost their lives in Isla Vista cliff falls. “These 13 people need to live on beyond their friends and family,” Capps said.

But, as County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig pointed out, the 13 deaths represent only a fraction of cliff falls in the county. In 2013, one incident occurred in which a 100-foot balcony on Del Playa collapsed and sent at least five people to the hospital. “This coastline, from Gaviota to Carpinteria, is just as dangerous as it is beautiful,” he said.

To sign the petition, visit here, and to donate to Schurmer’s GoFundMe page, visit here.

In memory of the 13 people that have lost their lives in cliff accidents in Isla Vista in the past 20 years: Brian Scott Miller (1994), Andrew Litvinchuk (1997), Clint McDonnell (2001), Timothy Baptista (2001), Robert Caraval (2003), Tyler VonRuden (2005), Noah Krom (2009), David Propp (2012), Giselle Ayala (2013), Sierra Markee-Winkler (2014), Alessandro Esquivel (2018), Chasen Alibrando (2022), and Benny Schurmer (2023).