This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.
A team of security guards checked backpacks, tote bags, and purses as more than four hundred people filtered into Isla Vista Theater last week for a town hall event. They gathered to discuss a noise ordinance that would shut down the community’s biggest party weekend, Deltopia. To the right of the entrance, a line for students extended down Trigo Road. To the entrance’s left, the line for long-term residents was about 10 feet long.
Student involvement and community buy-in: that was the crux of the evening’s conversation surrounding the noise ordinance. The ordinance would place a 72-hour ban on amplified music during Deltopia weekend, usually the first weekend of spring quarter. It would act as an extension of an existing ordinance, which prohibits loud music from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. that weekend…