Costa Mesa : Fair Board to Fence Off Land, Ousting Vendors

Over the objections of about 90 vendors who will be displaced by the decision, the Orange County Fairgrounds board of directors voted Thursday to fence off about 2.5 acres of land used at weekend swap meets.

Jill Lloyd, a spokeswoman for the fairgrounds, said the board’s decision to move a 1,000-foot-long fence about 105 feet into the territory used by the swap meet was necessary to expand a carnival area and to provide a thoroughfare for crowds attending the 11-day county fair each summer, as well as other events.

The company that leases part of the fairgrounds for the weekend swap meets, however, offered to pay to have the fence removed and to install a new fence that could be moved back and forth as needed. The proposal was rejected.

Steward Suchman, a lawyer for the company, Tel-Phil Enterprises Inc. of Newport Beach, said the firm would try to accommodate the displaced vendors in other locations. But, he said, “that presupposes that we won’t take any action regarding our legal rights. We are considering all of our alternatives.”

The company still has about five years remaining on its lease of 22 acres from the fairgrounds. Last year, the fairgrounds--a branch of the state Department of Food and Agriculture--received more than $2 million in swap meet revenue under that lease, Suchman said.