Residential Customer Del Mar CA, 92014 ECRWSS
Volume XV, Issue 31
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July 28, 2011 Published Weekly
Council says fairgrounds deal not dead
■ See our Special Racing Section on Pages B8-B9
BY JOE TASH Contributor Rumors of the death of the city of Del Mar’s bid to buy the stateowned Del Mar fairgrounds are greatly exaggerated, City Council members said Monday. In comments at a July 25 City Council meeting, council members downplayed the significance of published reports that a group of horse owners led by businessman Mike Pegram — which had verbally agreed to put up $30 million toward the
purchase — has dropped out of the deal. “The conclusion that the purchase of the fairgrounds is dead because that horseman’s group has pulled out seems to me premature,” said Mayor Don Mosier, in providing an update to the full council on the status of the purchase effort. “There’s a lot happening, it’s not dead,” said Councilman Mark Filanc, who, along with Mosier, heads up the city’s efforts to buy the fairgrounds. “It’s working. It’s a gla-
cial process.” Last year, before former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger left office, Del Mar reached an agreement with the state to buy the 400-plus-acre fairgrounds — which includes a horseracing track and grandstands — for $120 million. The property comprises 20 percent of Del Mar’s 1.8-square-mile footprint. Of that amount, the city planned to borrow $45 million by selling bonds, raise another $45 million through a loan from the state,
Sounds of summer in Del Mar
and the final $30 million was to have come from the group of horsemen. In an interview published July 9 in the Thoroughbred Times, Pegram reportedly said he has given up on the deal. “Like a lot of things in horse racing, it just didn’t work out,” Pegram is quoted as saying. Pegram did not return messages for comment left by this newspaper by presstime.
SEE DEAL, PAGE 19
Flower Hill upgrade goes on despite dispute California Coastal Commission issues stop-work order
■ Saints Thrift Store a Solana Beach fixture. Page B15.
(Above left) Allie Douglas, Chris Douglas and Samantha Whiting enjoy a Rockola performance, the most recent event in the Del Mar Foundation’s Summer Twilight Concerts line-up at Powerhouse Park. See page B16 for more. (Inset at right) The Del Mar Race Track Opening Day After-Party was held at L’Auberge on July 20. See page B8 for photos. Photos: Jon Clark
BY JOE TASH Contributor Construction on a controversial expansion and renovation project at the Flower Hill Promenade mall will continue for now, despite a stop-work order issued by the California Coastal Commission which carries potential fines of $15,000 per day. At issue is a territorial dispute between the commission, which regulates de-
velopment up and down the California coast, and the city of San Diego. Each entity contends it has the authority to approve the $25 million project at the popular shopping center on Via De La Valle east of Interstate 5. In April, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved the project, and construction began in July. However, the Coastal Commission contends that it has jurisdiction over the land where the mall sits, and must be the agency to issue a coastal development per-
SEE UPGRADE, PAGE 6
Community voices a variety of opinions on ‘Mainstreet’ project ■ Local teen gets taste of boot camp through rigorous ‘Devil Pups.’ Page B1
BY KAREN BILLING Staff Writer Planners took a look at the latest from Kilroy Realty’s “Mainstreet for Carmel Valley” project at the Carmel Valley Community Planning Board’s regional issues subcommittee meeting on July 20. Planners received a
JOHN R. LEFFERDINK
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great deal of input from the community on the in-development project planned for the corner of El Camino Real and Del Mar Heights Road, across from Del Mar Highlands Town Center. Recently named “One Paseo,” the project will include residential units,
shops, restaurants, office buildings, a boutique hotel and a movie theater with a pedestrian-oriented main street running though the center of the project. The heights of the office buildings are varied— one is a 10-story building with nine stories of office
over one floor of retail; another is seven stories over one retail. Offices and the movie theater wrap around a parking structure so it is hidden from view. Currently, Kilroy is entitled to 500,000 square feet on the property and the community plan calls for
just office use. One Paseo’s plan is about 1.8 million square feet (just over 800,000 square feet is for retail and office uses, therefore the balance is for residential and hotel uses) and will require a community plan
SEE MAINSTREET, PAGE 6
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