CALIFORNIA: Indian-American billionaire and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Vinod Khosla has re-opened access to a beach in California's Half Moon Bay. The reopening came two days after legal papers were filed demanding him to comply with a court order. The move has been quoted as a victory for surfers. However, lawyers sense the case is not over.
Lead attorney for non-profit Surfrider Foundation, Joseph Cotchett said, “I think this man is so embarrassed by his conduct that somebody must have said to him, 'open the gate and let the courts figure it out down the line'.” The foundation sued Khosla in 2013, arguing that the shoreline had been open to all since at least 1918, and belonged to the public. It was filed that the entrepreneur had no right to block public access without first obtaining a permit. Cotchett said that Khosla and his lawyers are attacking the California Coastal Act, a law established by the state legislature in 1976 to protect public access to the shoreline.
He said the businessman's actions is a victory to the entire state. His lawyers told the court in August that any interference by the state with his “fundamental right to exclude the public from private property” would be a type of confiscation that requires compensation under the US Supreme Court property-rights rulings.
The public was allowed to access the beach by paying a $5 to $10 parking free before it was sold to the founder of Khosla Ventures in 2008 for $37 million. After, access continued for about two years. Later, Khosla locked the gate and hired security guards to roam the beach and fend off any stray people.
