Fairgrounds Board Ends Del Mar Housing Talks, Sending the City Back to North Bluff
The Del Mar Fairgrounds board voted Aug. 18 to terminate its exclusive negotiating agreement with the city for 61 affordable homes on fairgrounds land. The Union-Tribune reported the 5-3 vote Aug. 19. Del Mar was counting on those units for more than half of the 113 lower-income homes it must plan by 2029. The backup in the city's housing element is to upzone north and south bluff sites where officials and neighbors have long opposed multi-unit housing.
Why the talks ended
Fair board members said they still want housing on the state-owned property, but a 5-3 majority did not see a path inside the exclusive agreement. The remaining site they favored is Surf and Turf RV Park, on a slice of fairgrounds land inside the City of San Diego. Del Mar would likely need to annex that land before the state would credit the units. Board member Ted Miyahara, who made the motion, said San Diego has its own housing numbers and may not give that credit away. Del Mar Mayor Tracy Martinez and Solana Beach Mayor Lesa Heebner asked the board to keep talking. They did not. The agreement had been scheduled to run through April 2027, with a November 2026 lease deadline, and it always let the fair board walk away.
Why it matters
- Sixty-one of Del Mar's 113 lower-income units just lost their primary site. The North Bluff overlay and the 259-unit Seaside Ridge fight now carry more weight.
- Fairgrounds housing is not dead. The board said it can still study housing outside the exclusive agreement, on a longer timeline.
- Buyers on or near the bluff should treat geology, insurance, and setback language as part of the payment, not a footnote.
Sources: San Diego Union-Tribune on the fair board vote; City of Del Mar 6th Cycle Housing Element; The Coast News on the Surf and Turf site.
Related on this site: North Bluff housing and Seaside Ridge.
More Del Mar mortgage help and the Del Mar news board.
For a buyer in Del Mar, losing the fairgrounds path puts more pressure on North Bluff supply, which is a jumbo payment question. See jumbo loans in Del Mar.
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