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10/13/2005: "Fairgrounds To Be Expanded"

SJC Fairgrounds & the (outlined in blue) proposed land purchase

Using money collected from an existing county excise tax on the sale of real estate, the SJC Fairgrounds may be expanded from it's current 9.58 acres, to a total of 13.28 acres. A 5.84 acre piece of land with a single family house on it is owned by the Mayer family trust, and a portion of the land shares a property line with county land that is currently used as a fairgrounds.

The proposal is to purchase 3.70 acres of the adjoining Mayer property for $175.000.00. While the subject property cannot be subdivided, the current owners and the County can agree to move their shared boundary line between the properties.

Prior to the adoption of the GMA (Growth Management Act) the Mayer land was scheduled to be divided into three parcels for single family development, but the new restrictions under the GMA made this proposal unworkable. What can be done under GMA is to move an adjoining property line, thus increasing the Fairgrounds, and decreasing the Mayer property.

The BOCC has agreed to pay $47,000.00 an acre for the property, which is the amount that was determined by an appraiser be the fair market value. While this amount is considerable less than would have been realized by being able to have subdivided the land, it does allow the Mayer family to receive some financial gain from their investment, and still retain a portion of the land with a family home on it -the rectangle just below the blue square.

The purchase of the property (outlined in blue above) will "wrap" the fairgrounds around a property and a home owned by the Pugh family.