Martins Beach Bill introduced State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, is proposing to use eminent domain to restore access
“A Peninsula state senator is ratcheting up the pressure on Vinod Khosla, a Silicon Valley billionaire who has blocked public access to secluded Martins Beach since buying the property for $37.5 million.
State Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, introduced legislation that would instruct the California State Lands Commission to purchase a private access road leading to the beach, which is cut off from coastal access by towering bluffs.
If the commission isn’t able to reach a deal with Khosla within a year, according to the proposed bill, it would be authorized to acquire the road through eminent domain.
“To me there is no better or more appropriate use for eminent domain, ” said Hill, citing the public right to access navigable water under the California Constitution. “There is definitely a public purpose.”
Khosla, one of the world’s wealthiest venture capitalists, locked a gate on the road in 2008 shortly after buying the 89-acre property, situated a few miles south of Half Moon Bay.”
Kinney, Aaron. San Jose Pacifica News 18 February 2014.