City Makes Progress on Plan to Preserve Fairgrounds

 COSTA MESA The city will begin preparing a specific plan that would place a tighter framework on the fairgrounds property, which is being eyed by potential bidders.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a staff request to create the plan that would emphasize the city’s designation of the property as fairgrounds and further restrict what a new owner could do with the 150-acre site.

“That place has so much culture and so much value for our community,” said Councilwoman Katrina Foley. “You have horse-riding. You have Persian fairs, rodeos. It’s an amazing place to gain culture in our backyard, and we have to do what we can to protect it.”

Eighteen members of the community – a majority representing the Equestrian Center at the fairgrounds – spoke in support of creating a specific plan and preserving the future of the fairgrounds.

City council members also asked the City Attorney’s Office to look into whether the city’s zoning of the property as fairgrounds could be locked in permanently by voters next year.

The cash-strapped state officially put the property on the auction block earlier this month. The property is being sold as-is, meaning the long-term preservation of the fairgrounds’ uses at the site is not a condition of sale, according to staff.

The city’s general plan designates the property as fairgrounds. A specific plan would provide further information about the property, potentially spelling out the amount of building square footage and parking spaces allowed, duration of the fair and other development standards, said Kimberly Brandt, the city’s acting development services director.

Drawing up and adopting a specific plan, which could take four to six months, essentially creates another layer of defining the restrictions already in place.