Del Mar City Council members have been urging the Del Mar Fairgrounds Board of Directors to reconsider its decision to end negotiations on a 61-unit affordable housing project on fairgrounds property.

“To have the fair board abruptly kill this agreement based on cited uncertainties is deeply disappointing,” Del Mar Mayor Tracy Martinez said during the council’s Aug. 25 meeting.

The city and fairgrounds signed an exclusive negotiating rights agreement in 2024 to discuss the housing project, which would have provided 61 out of 113 affordable housing units that the city has to accommodate before 2029 as part of a state mandate. That timeline included a November 2026 deadline for the city to finalize a lease agreement with the fairgrounds, which the city will no longer be able to meet.

The exclusive negotiating rights agreement also gave the fair board the unilateral ability to end negotiations at any point. Fair board members have twice voted to pause negotiations over disputes with the city, and had repeatedly warned the city that they might not be able to make a decision on housing.

The fair board recently identified Surf and Turf RV Park, which is located on a portion of fairgrounds property within the city of San Diego, as the spot it wanted to evaluate for housing. But the city of Del Mar would likely have to annex the property from San Diego. San Diego City Councilmember Joe LaCava said in a letter that he was open to considering it, but fair board members said earlier this month before voting 5-3 to end negotiations that they didn’t think there was a near-term path to getting it done and wanted to explore other possibilities.

Fair board member Mark Arabo recused himself from the discussion and vote after the city asked the district attorney and U.S. attorney to investigate possible conflicts of interest behind his criticism of the fairgrounds housing proposal, even though the city did not accuse him of any particular crime or wrongdoing. The original accusations of potential conflict of interest came from an email sent to the city signed by a Debrah Barnes. The Del Mar Times has been unable to determine whether Debrah Barnes is real or a pseudonym.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development, which set the November 2026 deadline for the lease agreement between the city and fairgrounds, did not respond to a request for comment.

Martinez also sent a letter to the fair board Aug. 21 asking the fair board to reconsider at its next meeting.

“We’re going to keep fighting on behalf of people who need this housing, and we’re going to keep fighting on behalf of people who say Del Mar doesn’t want affordable housing,” Martinez said in the letter.  “We’re willing to put it right on the front door of our city.”

If the plan to build housing on the fairgrounds fails, the city’s state-certified housing element identifies upzones on north and south bluff properties as the backup plan. The dispute is based on the project’s size, location in the coastal zone, and whether it should be eligible for streamlined approvals under a state law known as the builder’s remedy.

The north bluff property at the city’s northern border is already the proposed site of Seaside Ridge, a 259-unit residential project with 42 lower-income units and 43 moderate-income units. The city rejected multiple project applications as incomplete, leading to a pending court petition by property owner Carol Lazier.

Lazier and Seaside Ridge are now calling on the city to follow through with the upzone property.

“With Seaside Ridge, the mayor and the city council could bring a meaningful number of affordable housing units online, as well as a new public park,” Lazier said in a letter to the city. “You should seize this opportunity.