Sides postponed for negotiations on day set for trial
The latest court battle in the more than decadelong dispute over public access to the Peninsula’s Martins Beach has been postponed for settlement talks. On April 28, the day the trial was set to begin, lawyers for the state and for venture capital ist Vinod Khosla agreed to put the case on hold to enter into settlement negotiations, according to court records and Joshua Smith, a spokesman of the California Coastal Commission , one of the agencies that sued a pair of Khosla’s companies.
The two sides expect to be in talks for 6 months, Smith said. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Nina Shapirshteyn scheduled an August follow-up hearing to check on the status of the case, according to court records. Instead of proceeding to trial, the state “felt like settlement negotiations was the way to go,” Smith said. The two sides agreed to put the case on hold for six months, Shernaz Daver, chief marketing officer at Khosla Ventures, Khosla’s Menlo Park venture firm, said in an email. She declined to comment further on the case. Sheri Pemberton, a spokeswoman for the State Land Commission, the other agency involved in the case, declined to comment about it. Khosla’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. In broad brush, the dispute involves a conflict between private property rights and public ownership of California beaches, a principle that’s enshrined in the state constitution and the California Coastal Act of 1976. In particular, the controversy pertains to access to Martins Beach, a cove-shaped coastal area located about 7 miles south of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1 that’s bordered on its north and south sides by tall cliffs that go down to the water. Khosla in 2008 bought a pair of beachfront properties adding up 89 acres there that included Martins Beach Road, which provides the only overland access to the beach. Two years later, he closed and locked the gates leading to the roads, posted guards preventing public access and put up “no trespassing” signs. Ex // Top Stories Debate over North Beach historic designation will keep simmering State commission delays consideration, with next hearing still months away SF Ballet dancers pay it forward with original works Ballet is an art form in which one generation shares knowledge with the next, and a pair of local dancers carry on that tradition Urban Alchemy could lay off dozens after losing BART contract Community ambassador provider might cut 57 after Oakland-based District Works earned BART elevator attendant contract That effort to bar access triggered a series of legal disputes. In 2018, Khosla lost one of those disputes, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined his appeal of a California court decision that he needed to obtain a permit from the Coastal Commission before closing off access to the beach. The following year, he won a case against the Surfrider Foundation, when a California Appeals Court ruled that just because previous owners of the property had provided public access to the beach via the road that practice didn’t turn the road into a public right-of-way. After losing the first case, Khosla reopened access to the road, although reportedly on an intermittent basis. The state Legislature passed a law directing the Coastal Commission to negotiate with Khosla to purchase permanent access to the road for the public or to seize it through eminent domain. But the Legislature only set aside $1 million for the purchase, while Khosla reportedly was demanding $30 million — almost what he paid for the properties originally. In the wake of the result of the second case, the Coastal and State Lands commissions in 2020 filed their own suit to ensure the public would permanently retain access to the beach. As part of their case, the agencies cited newly discovered evidence, including photographs and journal entries, that the public had had broad access to the beach via the road dating back to the 1920s. Khosla’s lawyers have repeatedly tried to have the state’s case dismissed. The judges overseeing the case have denied those motions, including last May. It’s unclear whether the two sides will be able to find a compromise. Despite reportedly never living on the property and stating he wished he’d never bought it, Khosla has in the past vowed to keep fighting for his property rights simply on principle. For its part, Surfrider is hoping the state sticks by its own principle, said Staley Prom, a senior legal associate at the organization, arguing that the agencies have a “very strong case.” The foundation is “hopeful that they will continue, as trustees of our public trust beaches, to fight for the public’s restored rightful access to this special beach.” If you have a tip about tech, startups or the venture industry, contact Troy Wolverton at twolverton@sfexaminer.com or via text or Signal at 415.515.5594.
Martins Beach California Coastal Commission State Lands Commission Court Case Venture Capital Silicon Valley
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