Countywide : County Fair Move to Air Base Studied

Orange County Fair executives are exploring the possibility of relocating the annual summer exposition to the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station, officials said Monday.

Buck Johns, vice president of the fair’s board of directors, said the chances of moving the fair from its current location in Costa Mesa are remote.

But fair executives met last week with city of Tustin officials to discuss occupying a portion of the 1,500-acre property after the base closes in 1997.

“We’re really not making any decisions,” fair board President Randy Smith said of the discussions.

“The two sides have just a loose agreement to keep the lines of communications open.”

Smith said the exposition is not unhappy with its location just off the Costa Mesa Freeway, and fair officials indicated that they are simply “looking at all options.”

In recent years, relations between the fair and the city of Costa Mesa have been rocky because of residents’ complaints over traffic and excessive noise during the 17-day event.

Last year the fair attracted more than 600,000 people.

“The city has kind of grown up around us,” Smith said of the 175-acre site that has been the fair’s home since 1949.

Board executives and Tustin city officials admit that the financial arrangements of such a move would be difficult to work out because any property purchased by the fair board would be considered a state holding.

The parcel would be exempt from property taxes and would not contribute to city revenue.

“The financial realities are really very difficult,” Tustin Councilman Jeffrey Thomas said. “We’re not real optimistic.”

Thomas said the two sides have no future meetings scheduled but have agreed to share information as it becomes available.