City should get a fair deal

The Sonoma-Marin Fair just wrapped up another successful five-day run celebrating Petaluma’s deep agricultural roots.|

The Sonoma-Marin Fair just wrapped up another successful five-day run celebrating Petaluma’s deep agricultural roots. But the venerable institution faces an uncertain future as its lease of the fairgrounds property on East Washington Street expires in seven years.

City Manager John Brown and the fair board have been actively negotiating terms of a new lease for the past several years, and leaders have expressed a desire to finish the negotiations by the end of this year.

The fair, part of a state-run organization, which has occupied the 64-acre parcel in the middle of town since 1936, has been urging the city to extend its current lease, noting that its impending expiration in 2023 has prevented fair managers from making capital improvements to the property because lenders do not want to loan money to an entity with a murky future.

Currently, the $1-per-year lease gives the fair sole discretion over what the grounds are used for, an anachronistic arrangement that city officials cannot continue.

For five days every summer, the Sonoma-Marin Fair draws people from across the North Bay with its food vendors, rides, livestock shows and other attractions. But for the remainder of the year, the prime real estate does not live up to its economic potential.

Petaluma’s fair first began operating on inexpensive land at the edge of town, but ended up in the heart of Petaluma as development grew up around it. Now, the central location makes the fairgrounds a very expensive piece of publicly-owned real estate that is badly underutilized for 360 days of the year.

In the past, the fair board has been adamant that it needs the entire site for its annual event. But recently, as the clock ticked closer to the end of the lease and the need for improvements to the property intensified, the fair board sensibly said it understood the need for the city to exert more control over the public’s property.

Petaluma’s elected officials are, after all, responsible for getting the most efficient utilization of this valuable property for the benefit of its owners, the citizens of Petaluma. To do that will require reconfiguring the fairgrounds property so the fair can operate more efficiently while opening up space for new public uses, thus enabling the property’s full potential to be achieved.

Development of a convention center, for example, could present a tremendous opportunity to sustain the fair’s finances while providing the community with a new and valuable space for large meetings and conferences that the city currently lacks. Some of the fair’s underutilized property could also host new city facilities.

If negotiated sincerely and intelligently, these and other critical objectives - such as improved traffic circulation and appropriate connectivity to the neighboring swim center, library and shopping center - can all be achieved.

The Sonoma-Marin Fair is an important and valuable asset to Petaluma, as is the property it occupies. We wish city and fair leaders all the best in crafting a plan for the site’s future that better meets the needs of all Petaluma residents.

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