The long-running debate over housing at the Del Mar Fairgrounds is zeroing in on a very specific piece of turf: the Surf & Turf RV Park. This month, the fairgrounds board effectively put the seasonal park in the pole position for a potential affordable housing project, after consultants sifted through six possible sites and said Surf & Turf deserves a closer look, even as jurisdictional headaches and tight deadlines loom.
Board narrows field to Surf & Turf
At its June 9 meeting, the 22nd District Agricultural Association backed staff's call to keep studying the Surf & Turf parcel and to put several smaller lots on pause, as reported by The Coast News. That move stems from feasibility reports paid for with a state Housing Acceleration Program grant, which steered attention toward the larger sites.
Board members were clear on one non-negotiable: any housing plan would need to preserve the current number of RV spaces, with seasonal residents relocated to comparable sites if Surf & Turf is eventually converted.
What the consultants found
A Harris & Associates analysis concluded the 0.8-acre intersection parcel is not realistic for meeting Del Mar's housing target, but found that the larger candidate parcels could qualify for tax-credit financing and, with mitigation, avoid major traffic or environmental fallout, according to a City of Del Mar report. The study also noted that existing water and sewer infrastructure would likely be able to support a project on the larger sites, subject to more detailed follow-up work.
Why Surf & Turf is complicated
The hang-up is not just political, it is geographic. The Surf & Turf parcel sits east of Jimmy Durante Boulevard, inside the City of San Diego, which means any housing built there would not automatically count toward Del Mar's state-required numbers without annexation or a land swap, The Coast News reports.
Board member Ted Miyahara urged staff to talk with San Diego officials before spending more public money on refined designs, and staff reiterated that seasonal RV residents would have to be offered comparable relocation if the park is redeveloped.
Timeline and next steps
State housing officials are not exactly leaving a lot of slack in the schedule. The City's housing studies quote a January 15 letter from HCD that expects a ground lease to be executed by November 30, 2026, in order to demonstrate feasibility by June 2031, according to the consultant reports. The 22nd DAA is slated to take up the affordable housing question again at its August 18 board meeting, per the Fairgrounds' public calendar.
Politics and practical hurdles
Del Mar Mayor Tracy Martinez has pushed for clearer messaging about where all this is headed and pointed out that roughly $1.7 million has already gone into the effort since 2024, calling for a joint meeting of city and district leaders to get on the same page, per the City of Del Mar.
The housing push is also unfolding against a tense backdrop. Board criticism of former CEO Carlene Moore, who was fired in April, and a string of recent lawsuits have left some directors skittish about moving too quickly, as reported by Voice of San Diego. That combination of legal baggage, political pressure and state timelines makes Surf & Turf less of a sleepy RV park and more of a high-stakes test case for how the fairgrounds handles housing.
