Economic Base - (Original Page No. 16)

Del Mar is predominantly a residential community. As such, its principal source of revenue is the property tax levied against residential properties. Additional revenues are derived from commercial sources and the Del Mar Racetrack and Fairgrounds.

Income of Del Mar residents comes principally from employment outside the community.

The most outstanding characteristic of Del Mar's economy is the seasonal variation in retail trade sales due to the tourist trade. About 40% of the City's volume of taxable retail sales can be attributed to the influence of tourists attracted to the local beaches, the Southern California Exposition, and the Del Mar Racetrack. This same relationship is also demonstrated by the largely tourist oriented businesses in Del Mar.

Commercial Characteristics

Compared to San Diego County, Del Mar has a relatively constant percentage of the region's retail trade at an average of .29% with the same percentage of the region's population. However, the city's retail trade shows definite quarterly variations in trade with the third quarter showing by far the largest volume, well over half the yearly total.

The sharp third quarter rise can be explained to a large degree by the Southern California Exposition, which occurs in late June and the first week of July, and the racing season at the Racetrack, occurring from late July to mid-September or virtually half the third quarter. During this third quarter the fair and racetrack attract about 1.2 million people into the Del Mar area.

Also, the third quarter is the height of the summer season at the local beaches. Therefore, the impact of Del Mar's tourist trade on the local economy can be seen as important.

Del Mar's commercial activity is dominated by the retail and services sector of the economy.

There is indication that Del Mar's businesses may not be serving the resident needs since, in 1970, retail sales per capita in Del Mar was 9.5% lower than that for the county while the city's average income was about 28% higher than the regions. Additionally, a Del Mar Chamber of Commerce survey in 1973 indicated that 61% of the local residents desired additional goods and services within the community. How seriously the citizens view the lack of stores to meet their needs is brought into question by the results of a Friends of Del Mar attitude survey which indicates that only about 12% of Del Mar's residents view this shortage as a major problem.

The total commercial now existing appears adequate to meet Del Mar's needs at the present. Existing space provides for about 30 square feet per capita which is well within the standard 20 to 50 square feet. However, because of the large amount of office space the actual retail space falls below standards with 14 square feet per capita.

At present there is no significant commercial development in competition with Del Mar except for the Solana Beach area. However, there are two large shopping centers proposed on the periphery of Del Mar which will add about 300,000 square feet to the local area. This may have an adverse impact upon the established shopping area along Camino del Mar.

Employers within Del Mar

According to information from the Comprehensive Planning Organization, activities within Del Mar employed 1074 persons in 1972. Most of the employment within the city fell into five major categories: printing and publishing, wholesale and retail trade, services, construction, and government. In 1972 the printing and publishing industry employed over 300 persons; however, the recent reduction of publishing activities has affected the level of employment in this field. The wholesale and retail trade employs over 200 persons and is the second largest type of employer. The third largest category was services with approximately 200 persons.