Billionaire claims he has been harassed after blocking access to public beach

Billionaire claims he has been harassed after blocking access to public beach

Posted by John P. Bradford // October 17, 2016

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Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla sues two California agencies as part of protracted legal battle over public access to beach on his property

Silicon Valley venture capitalist and billionaire Vinod Khosla, who has been engaged in a legal battle over public access to a beloved surfing beach that sits on his land, is suing two state agencies accusing them of using coercion and harassment to take away his private property rights an allegation one campaign group describes as absurd.

Khosla, who has a net worth of $1.55bn, co-founded the technology company Sun Microsystems and now runs the venture capital firm Khosla Ventures. In 2008, he bought a 53-acre section of Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay, about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

In California, all beaches are open to the public up to the mean high tide line, broadly defined as the portion of the beach where the sand is wet.

To honor this, the previous owners of the land had given members of the public access to the beach via a private road, charging a fee for parking. It was a popular spot for fishing, picnicking and surfing.

When Khosla took over the property, he initially continued to allow public access, but in 2010 he closed the gate and painted over the billboard welcoming people to the beach. This prompted multiple lawsuits from campaign groups seeking continued access to Martins Beach and the introduction of new state legislation.

Khoslas lawyers have now filed a suit against the California coastal commission, state lands commission and San Mateo County, claiming that state and local officials have unfairly and irrationally targeted Khosla to force him to either keep the beach road open year-round for a small entrance fee or apply for a permit to close the beach.

Filed on 30 September, the complaint argues that both commissions and San Mateo County have engaged in an intentional course of conduct to harass, coerce and single out the owners of the land and frustrate their legitimate private property rights for purely personal and political reasons. Such conduct violates Khoslas constitutional rights, the complaint states.

Khoslas lawyers point out that the Deeney family, which owned the property from the 1900s to 2008, was not subject to the same scrutiny. It was the Deeney family who installed a fence, locked gate and no trespassing signs, and they would lock the gate to close the road to the beach any time they felt like it.

It was routinely closed for private events and in the winter. They did not apply for a permit and were never told by any public official or entity that a permit was required, said Khoslas attorney, Dori Yob, in a statement.

However, when the subsequent owner continued these practices they were met with threats and harassment in an attempt to coerce them to forfeit their private property rights and allow public access to the property on terms of the County and Coastal Commissions choosing, she added.

Yob also said there had been extensive misreporting in the media about the case, including the assertion, first made in the New York Times, that Khosla offered to sell access rights to the beach for $30m. There was never an offer to sell, she said.

Yob points out that the Deeney family sold the property because it was unprofitable and that the state had an opportunity to buy it but decided not to. Now it wants for free what they did not want to pay for, Yob said.

The Surfrider Foundation, a group that has campaigned to restore public access to the beach, disagrees with Yobs interpretation of events.

To allege unfair treatment is absurd, said the foundations legal director, Angela Howe, in a statement. Khosla is merely being asked by the county, state lands commission and coastal commission to follow the law and honor the beach access rights of California citizens.

I dont know how state agencies could harass and coerce such a powerful man, she added in a phone interview. Its almost laughable.

The Deeneys wanted people to enjoy the beach and worked with local officials to make that possible, she said. Khosla is being treated differently than the Deeney family because he acted very differently with total disregard for the publics right to access and enjoy the beach.

Martins Beach is part of the fabric of the community of Half Moon Bay and has been open for generations to the public, said Howe.

As San Francisco is becoming gentrified, you are getting a lot of money from Silicon Valley taking away public resources. This makes it especially offensive to the everyman.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/17/silicon-valley-vinod-khosla-martins-beach