The Island County Fair board will battle with Langley over a portion of the fairgrounds the city wants to use for a new road. At its meeting this week, the board unanimously voted to ask county commissioners to help them oppose the city.

In a letter sent to the commissioners Sept. 27, the fair board told the commissioners that the board unanimously voted to hold on to their “no road” position. Fair officials said the future of the fair is at stake.

“While we had hoped to come to a resolution concerning the road prior to hiring legal advice, it would seem that the city of Langley has left no option for the county or the successful future for the Island County Fair,” wrote Dan Ollis, fair association board chairman.

County commissioners have said in the past, however, that they are not planning on spending tax money to defend the fair board.

Ollis said the board had wanted the resolve the road dispute with the help of Commissioner Mike Shelton. But the recent letter from the city to the county — where Langley made an offer of $12,075 to buy the slice of land needed for the road — put the fair board on notice, Ollis said.

“We took this as that the city had no intention of talking any more,” Ollis said.

Langley officials have repeatedly tried to convince fair officials to grant the city an easement across the southern tip of the fairgrounds so a new road can be built. The road, called Fairgrounds Road, would serve the Highlands and other housing developments at the city’s southern edge. Langley officials say the road is needed to lessen traffic impacts as the city grows.

The county owns the fairgrounds property, and it is managed by the fair board. Langley has said it will condemn the piece of the fairgrounds property needed for the new road and acquire the land through the eminent domain process if the county does not agree to sell it.

The city’s offer to buy the land expired Friday.

Commissioner Mac McDowell said he hopes the dispute doesn’t end up in court. With the fair board sticking to its “no road” position — and commissioners unwilling to transfer the land to the city without the fair board’s approval.

“It’s a terrible thing when governments sue each other. No body wins, except maybe the lawyers,” McDowell said.

The city’s offer of $12,075 for the property was a preliminary step before the city can legally seek condemnation of the land.

Langley announced in July that it would condemn the stretch of the fairgrounds property on the south end of the property after negotiations with the fair association board over an easement hit an impasse.

Langley officials tried for nearly a year to get an easement for the road from the organizers of the county fair. But talks came to an halt after the fair board twice rejected the city’s request.

While city officials claim Fairgrounds Road is necessary to lessen traffic as the Highlands and other housing developments are built nearby, the fair association board and its supporters want to protect the fairgrounds property.

Fair supporters say a piece of the fairgrounds camping area could be cut off from the rest of the fair and become unusable.

Fair supporters fear the new road would threaten the future of the fair in Langley.

It’s not entirely clear how the new road would impact the future of the fair. The fair board had claimed earlier that they would lose revenue from camping fees if the piece of land would become unusable. But during the county fair in August, the piece of the fairgrounds property that would be cut off by the new road was used as a parking area for just three vehicles. The larger camping area, which sits adjacent to the log show venue and would not be separated from the main fairgrounds by the new road, also appeared to have vacant spots available during the four-day fair.

Also, the street is proposed to run mostly the same course of an existing road.