Del Mar's path to meeting its state-mandated affordable housing obligation just got narrower.
After the 22nd District Agricultural Association board voted 5-3 on Wednesday, Aug. 19 to kill its exclusive negotiating agreement with the city, Del Mar faces mounting pressure to fall back on the North Bluff — an eroding coastal site already entangled in a developer lawsuit and allegations of improper ties between a board member and the project's backers.
The state Department of Housing and Community Development had given Del Mar until November 2026 to lock down a lease for the Fairgrounds project. That deadline is now moot. The city still owes 113 low-income units by 2029 under its 6th Cycle Housing Element, and as we reported Wednesday, the board members who voted to terminate cited deep uncertainty about whether San Diego would ever annex the RV park parcel so Del Mar could claim housing credits. Overall, the city has hit 77% of its 175-unit housing target, but most of those units fall in moderate- and above-moderate-income categories.
"The fundamental issue is not simply whether San Diego likes this concept, the question is whether San Diego will take the necessary government action to annex property and allow the city of Del Mar to receive RHNA credit," board member Ted Miyahara said at the Wednesday meeting, before noting that four San Diego City Council seats are on the November ballot.
The North Bluff problem
On May 19, the Del Mar City Council directed staff to create a new "RM-North" zone on 6.2 acres of privately owned parcels on Border Avenue at Camino del Mar, according to city records. The rezoning would jump density from one unit per acre to 20.
But the site carries serious complications. The entire 19.3-acre bluff is the subject of Carol Lazier's proposed 259-unit Seaside Ridge project, which includes 85 affordable units and has been rejected by the council repeatedly, most recently in May 2026. Lazier is suing the city under the state's Builder's Remedy law, which allows projects to override local zoning when a city lacks a certified Housing Element.
The city's own erosion projections show the cliff edge reaching the border of the bluff's only existing developed property by 2030 under a moderate sea-level-rise scenario, Voice of San Diego reported Aug. 10. Under a worst-case scenario, half the bluff would be in the ocean by 2100.
Options are scarce. "We're out of vacant land," Del Mar City Councilmember Terry Gaasterland told Voice of San Diego in that Aug. 10 report.
Political collision
The housing fight has spilled into allegations of corruption. In mid-August, the Del Mar City Council voted to ask county and federal prosecutors to investigate California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Fairgrounds board member Mark Arabo over alleged ties to the Seaside Ridge developer. Arabo recused himself from the Wednesday vote, saying his decision was "not an admission nor a validation" of the city's referral. Both Arabo and Seaside Ridge representatives have denied wrongdoing.
Completing the RM-North rezoning will require amendments to the Del Mar Community Plan, Zoning Code and Local Coastal Program, with public hearings before the Planning Commission, City Council and California Coastal Commission. The city has not publicly stated its next steps following the Fairgrounds termination; a spokesperson did not respond to Voice of San Diego's request for comment after the vote.
