The city of Del Mar is hoping the Del Fairgrounds board would change its mind about ending negotiations to build affordable housing on fairgrounds property.
In 2024, the city and the 22nd District Agricultural Association (DAA), which owns and operates the fairgrounds, signed an Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement (ENRA) to study building an affordable housing project on fairgrounds land.
Had it been successful, it would have resulted in 61 affordable units toward Del Mar’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation. But on Aug. 18, the 22nd DAA board voted 5-3 to end the ENRA.
Del Mar Mayor Tracy Martinez said the vote surprised her. “I would say shock,” she said.
Martinez sent a letter to the fairgrounds board asking them to reconsider. In a statement to KPBS, the fairgrounds said it is moving forward in a different direction.
The next 22nd DAA board meeting is Sept. 15.
The relationship between the city and the fairgrounds has been fraught, with negotiations paused twice before. Once in late 2024 over disagreements over legislative strategies and lease terms under the ENRA. The second pause came in early 2025 over a disagreement about rerouting the train tracks.
Martinez, however, thought they were making progress before the latest vote. The city received a $1.7 million housing acceleration program grant from the state for the project; around $800,000 of that money went toward the feasibility study of the site that the fairgrounds said was feasible for affordable housing, she said.
That site is the Del Mar Fairgrounds Surf & Turf RV Park, which, while it is on property owned by the fairgrounds, is within the city of San Diego’s jurisdiction. That’s where things got messy.
“The city (of Del Mar) went to work and started doing the steps of what it would take for annexation. We see a clear path. We saw no issues,” Martinez said.
The 22nd DAA board, however, didn’t see it that way. At the Aug. 18 meeting, one board member said they weren’t convinced annexation was possible.
“We don’t know if the city of San Diego and the city of Del Mar can work out an agreement to annex property,” the board member said.
Del Mar and San Diego were in talks, Martinez said, and there was initially support from the county. That’s all now moot. She thinks misinformation may have played a role in the board’s decision.
“There were things that were inaccurate, completely inaccurate,” Martinez said. “And I think that's swayed — particularly some of the new members — to think this is going to be complicated. We lost control. There are uncertainties. None of those facts are true.”
With this affordable housing project at the fairgrounds off the table for Del Mar. The city will now have to upzone the north bluffs for density housing. That’s also where the stalled Seaside Ridge development is proposed.
The property owner sent a letter to the city saying state housing laws required the city to allow that project to move forward. Martinez disagrees.
“We do not believe that they're ready to build,” she said. “They did not complete their application.”
Seaside Ridge is currently suing the city to get the development approved.
