A judge has rejected Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit over his restrictions on public access to Martins Beach, a popular stretch of coastline south of Half Moon Bay. The ruling means the case will go to trial in April, where Khosla could be ordered to remove no trespassing signs and gates blocking the road to the beach.
People take a walk at Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015. For more than a decade, Martins Beach , a scenic stretch south of Half Moon Bay, has been ground zero for a nationally watched legal battle over who controls access to California’s sand and waves.
“We continue to think that public access here is of huge value,” said Lisa Haage, chief of enforcement for the Coastal Commission. “Martins Beach is an iconic and gorgeous place. There has been long-term public use, and it means a lot to the community.” The fight over the sandy beach on the San Mateo County coast has gained widespread attention. Khosla has described it as a case of private property rights, while political leaders, surfers and environmentalists have said the issue could set a precedent about whether California’s beaches can be closed off by wealthy landowners.
“According to the courts, the right to exclude others is the most valuable right in the ‘bundle of rights’ that constitutes property,” Khosla wrote in a 2018 In the current lawsuit, the Coastal Commission and State Lands Commission contend that generations of families who used the beach and the road before Khosla’s ownership guaranteed a public right of access under a long-established legal precedent.
In that case, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled that because beachgoers paid parking fees in the past to the property’s previous owner, a public right to the road had not been established.
Vinod Khosla Martins Beach Public Access California Coastal Commission Lawsuit
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