Orange County Stable Owners Will Continue to Hold the Reins

More than 200 horse owners celebrated Tuesday as the Orange County Board of Supervisors blocked a dark-horse bid that could have dismantled a popular stable.

“This is excellent, we’re thrilled,” said Gayle Youngs, who has boarded Nubs, her 26-year-old Arabian, for 19 years at Peacock Hill Equestrian Center at Irvine Regional Park.

Peacock Hill’s owners, William and Kathryn Warne, have leased the land from the county for more than two decades. During that time they put up barns, corrals and other structures, which their lease allows them to take when it ends. The county estimates the additions are valued at $478,000.

As the lease came up for renewal, a former legislator’s daughter-in-law charged that the Warnes had a sweetheart deal and wanted open bidding. But changing hands would have meant disrupting horses and their doting owners if the Warnes weren’t selected.

One after another, more than 60 horse owners who attended Tuesday’s board meeting in Santa Ana told of protecting the county’s once-pastoral way of life and that finding temporary quarters was impossible because the number of horse stables had declined in recent years.

When the board voted unanimously to renew the Warnes’ lease for 20 years, it drew wild applause.

“To disrupt or shut down the stables for a year to dismantle the equipment didn’t make much sense,” said Board Chairman Bill Campbell, whose district includes the stables.

At the meeting, Gil Ferguson, a former state assemblyman from Newport Beach, said the county’s parks staff had denied competitive bids, which were sought by his daughter-in-law, Sheila Ferguson.

The parks staff denied the allegations, which the board did not address when they voted to renew the lease.

Sheila Ferguson disagreed with the board’s decision and the county’s appraisal of the value of the Warnes’ improvements, saying the estimate “was a joke” for some older barns, corrals and riding rings.

Under the new lease, the Warnes will add 20 stables, allowing about 225 horses to board, and make at least $100,000 in improvements to refurbish the barns and other structures.

The original lease with the Warnes was unique because the county told them to erect temporary structures, which they could keep when the lease expired, said Bob Hamilton, a manager of the county’s Harbors, Beaches and Parks department.

At the time, proposed extensions of Jamboree and Weir Canyon roads were to have gone through the stable area, he said.

The roads were never extended, and the county was left with the lease that allowed the Warnes to keep the improvements, Hamilton said.

Hamilton rejected Ferguson’s claim of a sweetheart arrangement and said the Board of Supervisors approved negotiations for a new lease exclusively with the Warnes last year.

Sheila Ferguson was invited by Campbell to apply to run other horse stables on county property that may become available.

“Absolutely, I will take them up on that offer,” she said. “I’ve got a lot to offer.”