The Fairgrounds Board And City of Del Mar Are Still Beefing

It’s the failed-housing-project story that keeps on giving — the push to develop an affordable housing project on the Del Mar Fairgrounds, that is.

Not surprisingly, there have been some new developments in the two-year-long saga between Del Mar city leaders and members of the 22nd District Agricultural Association (DAA), the governor-appointed board that runs the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Since we last updated the story, the 22nd DAA has demanded an apology from the city of Del Mar for publicly requesting a criminal investigation into one of its board members, Mark Arabo, and the Del Mar Mayor released a letter clarifying the city’s actions and doubling down.

Remember: This whole thing started back in 2024, when the Del Mar Fairgrounds and the city of Del Mar signed an exclusive agreement to work toward building an affordable housing project on the Fairgrounds property.

The negotiation process went through several rocky periods and then, eventually, the Fairgounds board essentially killed the deal in August. There were several factors that likely contributed, the main one being that the project had become too complicated in scope, board members said. It was clear it would have required an annexation process and a longer timeline to move forward.