State must fight to open Martins Beach

State regulators charged with protecting coastal access need to take a stand against a billionaire bully who is demanding $30 million to allow surfers to reach Martins Beach, a crescent-shaped cove near Half Moon Bay. Venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, who has been blocking the only road to the beach since 2010, has shown that he simply cannot be reasonable.

California’s beaches are a public asset. The State Lands Commission, which is scheduled to get a staff update Tuesday on this frustrating standoff, needs to move forward with plans to claim this 3-foot-wide access road.

All eyes are on Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the highest-ranking elected official on the three-member commission. Newsom, a candidate for governor in 2018, should lead the charge to put this issue to rest once and for all. The other members are state Controller Betty Yee and state Finance Director Michael Cohen.

Khosla paid $32.5 million for an 89-acre spread in 2008. The idea that he could command $30 million for the 6.39-acre road is absurd.

“It’s inconceivable that this is going to cost more than a million bucks” once fair-market value is established through the eminent domain process, said Mark Massara, an attorney for the Surfrider Foundation.

Khosla seems to think his wealth and political connections — he is a big Democratic donor — allow him to play by his own rules.

The issue is about more than the fight for public access to one beach that Californians have enjoyed for 75 years until it was blocked by a billionaire. Khosla is attacking the very essence of the California Coastal Act: that our beaches are a public trust, available for all to protect, use and enjoy.

The commissioners must not cave to a greedy billionaire’s demands. This is a fight worth having.

Express your view to the commissioners

Email them today: cslc.commissionmeetings@slc.ca.gov