Future of Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Meeting – January 7th, 7PM

Friends of the Fair and Fairgrounds,

The Office of the County Executive of Santa Clara County is presenting their master planning update for the future of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Property this Thursday, January 7th, 2016 at 7pm, Fiesta Hall Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.  It’s imperative we get as much community attendance for this critical public discussion and presentation.  As you will read below, this plan may or may not keep the Fair at the Fairground location. It is vital that you and your family and friends attend this meeting and provide input and ask questions.

Please forward this email to others whom you believe would like to know about this meeting and attend by selecting the “Forward this email” link below!

The public input and recommendation from this meeting will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for their discussion at their regularly scheduled meeting on January 26, 2016 in the Board’s chambers at 70 West Hedding St., San Jose, CA 95110. The public is invited to attend in person or watch on-line athttp://sccgov.iqm2.com/Citizens/Calendar.aspx?From=1/1/2016&To=12/31/2016.In addition, a public discussion will be held at the offices of SPUR in downtown San Jose, at 76 South First St. at 6:00 PM on January 27, 2016, to which you are also all invited to participate.

Please see the January 7th detailed meeting logistics that were sent out below:

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From: Williams, Glen <glen.williams@ceo.sccgov.org>
Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 3:05 PM
Subject: County Fairgrounds Master-planning Update – This Week –Thursday, January 7, 2016 at 7:00 PM
To: “Williams, Glen” <glen.williams@ceo.sccgov.org>This is just a reminder that this Thursday evening, Santa Clara County will hold a public meeting at Fiesta Hall at the County Fairgrounds to discuss the most recent information regarding master-planning the Fairgrounds as well as solicit additional public input. The meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM. The main gate will be open at 344 Tully Road and there should be signs directing you to Fiesta Hall and adjacent parking.

Fiesta Hall is the building south of the Fair Downs/Bingo games buildings. The parking lot through Gate C off Old Tully Road will also be open for Bingo, and may be convenient access. If you so choose, park at the rear of the lot and the building on your left is Fiesta Hall. It is up a slight grade and there is no sidewalk there, so if that is not comfortable for you, please enter through the main gate and follow the signs.

For your convenience, I am repeating below the information that was sent to you last week announcing the meeting. We look forward to seeing you Thursday.

Happy Holidays! We hope you can join us next week for a discussion of the proposed next steps planning out the future of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. The community is invited to a January 7 public discussion and presentation on planning the future of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, prior to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors discussion at its January 26, 2016 meeting.

The County of Santa Clara Board of Supervisors has proposed creating a landmark community gathering space at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds 150-acre site; half would be dedicated to Public Park and open space, and half would be active recreational community uses, with or without approximately 30 acres being reserved for Fairgrounds operations. The C. H. Johnson consulting team has helped County staff draft a formal process for inviting proposers to submit their interest in helping the County implement the Board’s vision. Advance rough drafts of materials to be presented to the Board of Supervisors will be among the subjects for discussion and community input.

Translation services can be made available in Spanish, Vietnamese and Chinese. If needed, please request translation services no later than January 5, 2016, by calling or leaving a message at (408) 299-5164.

WHO:
County of Santa Clara Asset & Economic Development Representatives
County of Santa Clara Facilities and Fleet Representatives
Santa Clara County Residents

WHEN:
January 7, 2016, 7:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, Fiesta Hall, 344 Tully Rd, San Jose, CA 95111

WHY:
This meeting is part of the Board of Supervisors’ ongoing effort to ensure that the planning process for the Fairgrounds future is both inclusive and transparent. Since October 2014, the County has gathered feedback and ideas from the community and the various stakeholders, interviewed individuals and organizations who have brought forward early proposals for some portion of the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, completed an existing conditions report on the facilities, and evaluated the operations of the current Fairgrounds. It also conducted market assessment of support for various uses at the Fairgrounds, which was outlined in the “Santa Clara County Fairgrounds: Market Opportunities Draft Final Report.”

Over the past year, community members have had multiple opportunities to share their ideas and suggestions, review preliminary assessment reports, and discuss potential uses for the site. To date, the multi-lingual community outreach for the project has included a combination of community booths at regional events, a community workshop, stakeholder meetings, and a multi-lingual online survey. More than 2,700 people have participated in person and over 2,800 have taken the on-line survey.

The answers and recommendations of the consultants will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for their discussion at their regularly scheduled meeting on January 26, 2016 in the Board’s chambers at 70 West Hedding St., San Jose, CA 95110. The public is invited to attend or watch the meeting live, on-line, athttp://sccgov.iqm2.com/Citizens/Calendar.aspx?From=1/1/2016&To=12/31/2016. In addition, a public discussion will be held at the offices of SPUR in downtown San Jose, at 76 South First St. at6:00 PM on January 27, 2016, to which you are also all invited to participate.

I look forward to seeing you at the public discussion on January 7, 2016. If you have any questions, please feel free to reply to this e-mail and I will respond. You are also welcome to contact me at the numbers below. If you wish to have your name removed from this list and no longer receive updates on the Fairgrounds master-planning effort, simply hit “Reply” to this e-mail and type the words “REMOVE ME” in the subject line.

Glen Williams
Asset Development Manager
County of Santa Clara
Office of the County Executive
70 W. Hedding St., East Wing, 11th Floor
San Jose, CA 95110

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