Fair Parking in Wetlands Called Illegal

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday that Del Mar Fairgrounds operators failed to obtain a permit last month before bulldozing a wetlands area once preserved for the endangered California least tern to make way for a parking lot.

In a letter sent Thursday, the agency informed officials of the Fair Board, which operates the fairgrounds, that they violated the federal Clean Water Act by discharging fill material into the San Dieguito Lagoon while grading a 4-acre tract before the fair opened in June.

Chuck Holt, chief of the agency’s regulatory branch in Los Angeles, said Fair Board officials have 20 days to either restore the damage or apply for the proper permit.

“We’ve issued them a cease-and-desist order,” Holt said. “The letter’s in the mail. Now it’s up to them to inform us just how much work was completed on that project and apply to us for the proper permit. Then we’ll decide whether to issue them an after-the-fact permit.”

The corps also could fine officials up to $25,000 a day for the illegal grading project, he said. “We haven’t decided if we’ll do that yet,” Holt said. “We’ll wait until we get a response to our letter.”

Andrew Mauro, administrative officer for the Fair Board, said the prospect of such a large fine was absurd. “It’s ridiculous,” he said.

The controversy revolves around a parking-lot expansion that Fair Board officials said they had been trying to hammer out with U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials.

In 1984, in order to build a tunnel from the Del Mar Race Track grandstand to the infield, the Fair Board was required by the state Coastal Commission to set aside a least tern nesting area.

Fair Board officials have sought since October to expand an overflow parking area into the least tern habitat--next to the San Dieguito River--in exchange for creating an alternative plot for the birds between the Santa Fe Railroad tracks and Old Highway 101.

Several days before the fair opened, the Fair Board claims, verbal permission was received from Fish and Wildlife to start the project.

But Fish and Wildlife officials have asked the Corps to investigate the grading, claiming that the Fair Board jumped the gun.

After weeks of trying, Mauro said Fair Board officials finally reached an Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Wednesday.

Mauro said the Fair Board was told both by the Coastal Commission and the attorney general’s office that a permit was not needed for the grading. “All we did was take back a dirt parking lot temporarily set up for least terns,” he said.

The Fair Board, he said, plans to reply to the Corps of Engineers within the 20-day limit.

“We’ll reply within two days,” he said, “if they ever give us the courtesy of delivering this letter to us.”