DEL MAR — At the request of fairgrounds officials, Assemblyman Martin Garrick introduced a bill in February that could increase the number of racing days at Del Mar.

Assembly Bill 2205 would allow the California Horse Racing Board to allocate additional days to Del Mar if a venue in the central zone, which includes Hollywood Park and Santa Anita, is no longer available for racing.

Although no specific tracks or circumstances are mentioned in the bill, reports have indicated Hollywood Park may be closing. Bay Meadows Land Company, which owns Bay Meadows race track in Northern California, bought Hollywood Park in 2005. At the time “officials assured the California racing industry the track would continue for at least three years. That time period ends this September,” according to an article on bloodhorse.com.

“That was just an assurance that we were going to stay open for sure for three years,” F. Jack Liebau, president of Hollywood Park, told bloodhorse.com April 23. “It did not mean that we were going to close at the end of the three years.”

Bay Meadows Land Company is going through the zoning process for the Hollywood Park property with the city of Inglewood, where the track is located.

Tim Fennell, chief executive officer and general manager of the 22nd District Agricultural Association, the state agency that owns and operates Del Mar Fairgrounds, said Hollywood Park is committed to race through spring 2009. He said he asked Garrick, a Republican who represents the 74th Assembly District, which includes Del Mar and Solana Beach, to introduce the legislation as a proactive measure.

“If dates become available, we want to be a player at the table,” Fennell said. Del Mar, which is currently allowed 43 race days annually, could accommodate more dates in the fall or winter without conflicting with other events, he said.

“The Del Mar meet is very sacred,” Fennell said. “We don’t want to jeopardize that.”

Additional race days would also have a “positive impact economically in the area,” he said.

The city of Del Mar receives .03 of 1 percent of the on-track handle. Neighboring Solana Beach receives a share of Del Mar’s off-track betting, but gets no portion of on-site wagers. None of that is expected to change.

Both cities benefit indirectly from things such as additional hotel and sales taxes generated by track visitors, but they are also impacted by increased traffic.

Del Mar Councilwoman Crystal Crawford said she received copies of letters from the Torrey Pines Community Planning Board in which residents expressed traffic concerns. Those letters were forwarded to Garrick, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and San Diego City Council President Scott Peters. Crawford said members of the San Dieguito Lagoon Preservation Committee told her they have concerns about increased traffic resulting from additional race days.

Solana Beach Councilman Dave Roberts said when he discussed traffic impacts with Garrick’s staff members, they were receptive.

His colleague, Councilman Tom Campbell, said Garrick should have contacted city officials “beforehand to get a sense of our concerns.”

“That’s really unfortunate that these things are being sponsored without first talking to the communities that are impacted,” Campbell said. “It doesn’t seem like good representation to me.”

Garrick, who is running for his second term this November, said the bill “works for the benefit of Southern California, not to the detriment of Solana Beach or Del Mar.”

“I think it’s a good bill that’s positive for the horse racing industry,” Garrick said. “It will provide jobs to wherever the days go. It lends flexibility and freedom in the event of Hollywood Park closing, and for those days to be shuffled around the central and southern regions.”

Should Hollywood Park or any other track close, Del Mar wouldn’t necessarily be allocated all newly available dates. But with tracks operating on private land facing financial difficulties, “the thinking is, in the industry, that the only venue for racing in the future is going to be state fairgrounds,” said Del Mar Councilman Carl Hilliard.

The bill doesn’t specify the number of additional race days, when they would be held or who would run them. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club currently operates the Del Mar meet, but whether it would be in charge of any additional dates remains to be seen, Hilliard said.

AB2205 passed the Assembly 75-0 on May 15 and is waiting for a Senate vote. If it passes there, it goes to the governor’s desk. Garrick said he expects the process to be complete before the end of the current legislative session in July.