NEW LAW AUTHORIZES FAIR MOVE.

Byline: Michael Coit Staff Writer

The San Fernando Valley Fair has found a permanent home and will move from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center to the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center next year, officials said Tuesday.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, and signed Monday night by Gov. Gray Davis lifts a restriction that required the fair to buy land for a permanent site. With the restriction lifted, officials agreed to a $2.5 million long-term lease at Hansen Dam.

``It is exciting,'' said Alarcon, a Valley native who recalls a longer, bigger fair from his youth, before the event was squeezed for space. ``The fair is going to be a much more dynamic organization.''

Fair officials plan to expand from a four-day schedule to an 11-day run next year. They also plan to expand educational programs and to plow fair funds into improvements, including exhibit and conference buildings, that could lure events and programs providing year-round revenue.

``We're celebrating right now,'' said Rob Wilcox, the fair board president.

``For the first time in many years, the fair will be able to relocate to a permanent location. We are right on target to have the 2000 fair at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center.''

Fair officials said the $2.5 million for the lease is a relatively minuscule amount that never could have purchased a large swath of undeveloped land in the Valley. The money comes from the sale of Devonshire Downs, the Valley Fair's longtime home until it was forced to move more than a decade ago to make room for expansion of California State University, Northridge.

``Without this legislation, the future did not look good for this fair,'' Wilcox said. ``It's essential to our planning for the next century.''

Officials moved the fair from one leased site to another, studying and narrowing alternatives before settling on the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center.

Fair officials must complete a deal with Eddie Milligan, who operates the equestrian center under a long-term lease with the city of Los Angeles. The fair's lease is expected to continue as long as Milligan's does.

Both sides have said the financial terms, which they won't disclose, will help the fair build a budget surplus to improve the grounds and offerings.

The city has a 50-year master lease for recreational use of Hansen Dam land, which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers owns. As rent, Milligan pays the city 4 percent of his revenue from boarding horses, giving riding lessons and holding equestrian events.

City officials must review any agreement between Milligan and the fair. City parks officials have said the 50-acre equestrian center would seem a perfect site for the fair because about half of the site is undeveloped, and there is plenty of room for activities and parking.

Of 52 state-sanctioned fairs operated by active agricultural associations in California, the Valley Fair has been one of only three without a permanent home. That can have a significant impact on a fair's success, state officials said.

The fairgrounds would become a year-round destination at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center, officials say. Also, they say, the Valley Fair would be in a better position to compete with the Los Angeles and Ventura county fairs, which draw from the San Fernando Valley despite their distances.

The 1999 Valley Fair drew nearly 53,000 over four days last month. Although all of the expenses have not yet been tallied, a profit is expected for the third consecutive year, said Dale Coons, the fair's manager and one of only two full-time employees.

While confined to 25 acres at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, the fair still has offered many of its traditional features: livestock competition, home arts, gardening and landscaping exhibits, industrial and technology displays, a small livestock show, a rodeo, a carnival, and international food.