Brown signs Martins Beach public access bill
“Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed a bill requiring the State Lands Commission to negotiate public access to the shoreline at Martins Beach, an 89-acre beachfront property Khosla purchased in 2008. The decision comes on the heels of a court ruling last week that prohibits Khosla from excluding the public unless he gets a coastal development permit.
Khosla, a venture capitalist who focuses on clean energy technology, lobbied furiously against the bill, SB 968, and was able to water it down. But his team of lobbyists, led by former Assemblyman Rusty Areias, could not kill it.
The new law by state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, will instruct the commission to talk to Khosla about buying a public right-of-way across his private land to the shoreline. If no deal is reached by Jan. 1, 2016, the commission may use its power of eminent domain to force a sale.”
Kinney, Aaron. Contra Costa Times 30 September 2014.