A day after a judge's ruling, surfers and sunbathers gathered at Martin's Beach, a few miles south of Half Moon Bay, to celebrate winning their beach back.
Billionaire Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, bought the 53-acre property for $32.5 million in 2010 and blocked off public access shortly after that. But a judge ruled that illegal on Wednesday, exciting first-time visitors.
“We wanted to be the first one to go to this public beach,” Suzanne Cohen-Blane said Thursday.
The gate was still up on Thursday and the trespassing signs still threatening, but for the first time since Khosla closed off access, anyone can pass through legally now and visit the pristine sands of Martin’s Beach.
First-time visitors were excited to check it out.
“We just wanted to check it out,’ Michele McNiff said. “We heard it was open today, and we’ve never been. We’ve been living here for two years.”
A San Mateo County judge ruled Wednesday in favor of granting public access to Martin’s Beach, saying Khosla failed to get a coastal development permit before blocking access. Khosla cut off the road citing the maintenance and liability insurance as too expensive.
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The judge’s decision is a victory for the Surfrider Foundation, which filed the suit last year, arguing Martin’s Beach has been accessible since 1918 and belonged to the public.
“Every billionaire can come in to California and buy property and shut us all out,” Surfrider Foundation member Eric Gilligan said. “I think it’s a Constitutional right, federal and state, that we’re allowed to get down to our beaches.”
Thursday turned out to be a good time for surfers to get first-time access to Martin’s Beach.
“It’s the first real big swell of the year,” said surfer Jesse Quay, who’s from Oakland. “The buoys are pretty large now…all the surfers are excited all up and down the coast.”
Attempts to reach Khosla’s attorneys for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.
The judge could have fined Khosla $15,000 a day for every day access was blocked, but she waived the fines.
It is unclear whether Wednesday’s ruling will be appealed.
