No more horsing around gate

Paul Clinton

UPPER NEWPORT BAY -- Six months after Carla Brockman put up a network

of gates to block a horse trail leading to the Back Bay, the Newport

Beach woman has tentatively agreed to take them down.

In separate agreements with Orange County and Newport Beach, Brockman

has said she would remove the gates in exchange for certain concessions,

county and city officials say.

Deputy County Counsel Christopher Dargan said both sides have reached

a deal that still must be finalized. Brockman and her attorneys are

reviewing the documents that would cement the deal.

“The key to opening that gate is [Brockman] agreeing to the terms,”

Dargan said. “They hold the key.”

Brockman could not be reached for comment, but her attorney, David

Cosgrove, said a deal was in place.

According to the terms of the agreement, Brockman would sell the

30-foot access road to the county for $5,000. The move would release

Brockman from liability for any injuries that occur to those who use the

trail.

“The way we’ve tried to answer the liability question is to take Mrs.

Brockman off the title of the property,” Cosgrove said. “She is getting a

sum that is substantially less than market value.”

The deal brings to an end a nearly six-month feud between Brockman and

many members of the equestrian neighborhood surrounding the trail. Once

Brockman put up her row of gates -- a metal chain, steel gate and line of

poles -- a number of her neighbors criticized her for illegally blocking

a well-traveled public trail.

Shortly after the gates went up in late November, Brockman defended

the move, inviting residents to sue her if they were unhappy. Brockman

also promised to “call the police” if she found horses on the path.

Her attitude rankled residents living nearby, including Jim Auster,

who founded the Back Bay Access Coalition to lobby city, county and state

officials to order Brockman to open up the path.

Auster was skeptical about any announcement that the gates would come

down.

“We’ve been told this for months, and everybody’s frustrated,” Auster

said. “We’re not sure what’s taking so long.”

Brockman also has reached a tentative deal with Newport Beach, which

would preserve her original property line even after she sells the trail

to the county.

“She doesn’t want to lose any buildable area,” said Newport Beach

Assistant City Atty. Robin Clauson.

Clauson said she was confident Brockman would sign off on the deal.

Austen and other residents said they will believe it when they see it.

Brockman said she put up the gates, in the 2300 block of Mesa Drive,

after a local rider filed a lawsuit following a fall from her horse.

Sandy McRae, who lives across the street from Brockman on

unincorporated county land, filed the suit. McRae said she has been

unfairly blamed by the Newport Beach woman. McRae said her horse fell on

her, crushing her left elbow, after it was spooked by a car exiting

Brockman’s driveway about 20 yards from the gated trail.

“She’s blaming me for closing the road,” McRae said. “The accident

didn’t happen there. It happened on her driveway.”