Sheriff's Office says it will not arrest, ticket Martin's Beach visitors

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released this news release yesterday, January 27, stating the Sherrif's Office will not be making arrests or issuing citations for trespass at Martin's Beach. 

Martin's Beach Reopened...?

As 2014 came to a close and 2015 began anew, visitors old and new were delighted to find the gate to Martin's Beach Rd. periodically opened!  The gate was open several days between December 21st and January 7th.  Folks have been documenting their visits on the Friends of Martin's Beach Facebook page.

Most reported being charged a $10 per car fee to park.

While an open gate is welcomed action after years of closure, many worry that this is just a temporary ploy to appease the court while the Khosla camp continues to seek more palatable legal determinations in their favor.  This concern appears consistent with the filing of a Notice of Intent to Move for a New Trial, filed December 16 and reported on here. 

As this was not at all a surprise, on January 14, the Surfrider Foundation's legal firm, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, filed this opposition brief. The image to the left, which shows when the gates have been opened and closed since the Final Ruling came out, is at the end of the brief.

A Surfrider Foundation volunteer is also tracking people's visits to Martin's Beach. You can see the latest on this Facebook page.

Concurrently, while action from the court is awaited, the State Lands Commission has begun to prepare a letter to be sent to Khosla to commence the negotiation process outlined by SB 968 (Hill), which was signed into law last year and currently effective.

If Khosla responds affirmatively, it could commence a year-long process of negotiation by the state agency, which would involve public input.  If not, the Commission will have the discretion to take action into its own hands and consider eminent domain proceedings to establish a state-owned access way to and along Martin's Beach.

Khosla to Judge: I Was Given an Unfair Trial

In the latest turn of events, on Dec. 16 attorneys for Vinod Khosla filed a notice of intent to move for a new trial.  Their reason?  Well, there were several, including "irregularity in the proceedings," "improper orders of the court," "abuse of discretion by the court," and "accident or surprise."

It would be nice if it could be said that this filing was an accident or surprise, but unfortunately Khosla's efforts to skirt the rules seem to be par for the course.

Khosla's attorneys also sent a letter this week, addressed to the California Coastal Commission, in response to the Dec. 8 letter sent by Commission staff to Steven Baugher, manager of Martins Beach I and II, LLCs.  In the letter, they cop to the apparent reason that the gate is still closed to the public, despite Judge Mallach's Final Order that ordered the gate to be opened: bad weather.

In the Judge's order, she stated that the gate was to be opened to the same extent that it was at the time of purchase.  In Richard Deeney's testimony in the case, he stated that he would close the gate when there was bad weather, when there wasn't someone to take money at the gate, or when he felt like it.  So Khosla's attorneys are attempting to justify continued, uninterrupted closure of the gate based on those specific words in Mr. Deeney's testimony, despite the reality that the gate was not permanently closed for "bad weather" or any other reason when the property was owned by the Deeney family. 

A response from the court is awaited. 

Judge to Khosla: "The Gate Across Martins Beach Rd Must Be Unlocked and Open" NOW

As reported on the Surfrider Foundation Coastal Blog, on Friday, December 5, San Mateo County Superior Court judge Barbara J Mallach provided clarity to her final ruling issued November 12, in which she ruled that Khosla's changes to the property--including permanently locking the gate across Martins Beach Rd--constituted development and therefore require a permit from the California Coastal Commission.  Clarification came in the form of a Final Order from the court, which amongst other things orders Khosla to open the gate and restore access to what it was when he bought the property. 

For those who have been wondering when the gate would be required to be reopened, the time has come.  We have arrived.  Open, Sesame!

                                                                     Photo credit: Anneliese Agren

But Khosla has yet to comply.

Following on the heels of this order, the California Coastal Commission sent its own clarifying message to Khosla, via the property manager Steven Baugher.  In case the threat of law is not motivation enough to comply, the Commission sent a seven page letter stating that the property owner is in violation of the Coastal Act for unpermitted development including but not limited to the locking of the gate to bar public access, use of security guards, pursuit of trespassing enforcement against visitors, and placement of signs to deter access, AND that these violations are subject to various fines, including a fine of up to $11,250 per day per violation and $15,000 per day per violation, respectively.  AND the Commission notes that the fines are cumulative from the notice of violation, which was sent in 2011.  Although Khosla is a billionaire, fines racking up to potentially tens of millions of dollars would probably not go unnoticed. 

In the Commission letter, the Commission gave Baugher until Dec. 22 to respond and work to resolve this violation amicably. 

Stay tuned!

Two Years Ago, Five Intrepid Surfers...

...took a ride south of town to Martin's Beach to go surfing. Not an extraordinary thing, except for the fact that the road to Martin's Beach had been closed off to the public and it was unclear whether or not they would be welcomed in their attempt to access and recreate at this local beach.

Not to be deterred, they read up on their rights to access the beach and decided to exercise them.

At 10am on Sunday, October 21, Jonathan Bremer, Kyle Foley, Austin Murison, David Pringle, and Tyler Schmid were ticketed for trespassing at Martin's Beach. This set off an effort to defend their actions and seek a determination from a county judge that these gents were, in fact, not trespassing.

On February 7, 2013, the county judge dismissed the charges based on insufficient evidence to support the allegations of trespassing. (original story here) From that date forward to present time, this decision has allowed the public to visit Martin's Beach without being charged with trespassing.

Thank you, Jonathan, Kyle, Austin, David, and Tyler for blazing the trail down to the beach for the rest of us while we await for a permanent access solution! 

Taking a Moment

WOW!  What an amazing past week this has been for the campaign to Open Martin's Beach, with a victory in the courts and a victory at the state capitol.  Although the campaign is far from over, it's important to take a moment to reflect on how far this effort has come, how many people have contributed their time, stories, energy, and/or funds to support open access, and the movement that has been energized.

Here are a few videos and photos to enjoy of folks taking this moment to enjoy how far we've come.

John Green/Bay Area News Group - CLICK FOR GALLERY

Photoshopped courtesy of Wallace J Nichols

Video: Cycling Brothers a Little Too Stoked that Judge Opened Local Beach

NBC Video Clip - Return to Martins Beach

SB 968 - SIGNED!

Tuesday afternoon, on the last day for the Governor to take action on bills, Governor Jerry Brown put pen to paper and inked him name on SB 968, a bill authored by Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), which outlined a timeline and process for the State Lands Commission to acquire public access to Martin's Beach.  The bill directs the Commission to enter into negotiations for a period of one year, and if at the end of that year negotiations have not been fruitful, State Lands may opt to use other mechanisms to acquire and facilitate access. 

The bill was fortunate to enjoy bipartisan support in the Senate and Assembly, but even into the final hours its was unclear whether the Governor would sign the bill or not.

Needless to day, we at the Surfrider Foundation are elated that the Governor chose to sign SB 968, and we greatly appreciate that the bill has been given the opportunity to go into effect.  We could not have achieved this action without the leadership of Senator Jerry Hill, co-authors Asm. Mark Stone and Asm. Kevin Mullin, and Speaker Toni Atkins, nor could this have been accomplished without the support of many, including Platinum Advisors; supporting organizations Environment California, California Coastal Protection Network, Sierra Club, Ocean Conservancy, WILDCOAST, Black Surfers Collective, The City Project, Committee for Green Foothills, Save the Waves, Azul, West Marin Environmental Action Committee; outstanding individuals such as former U.S. Rep Pete McCloskey, Rob Caughlan, Warner Chabot, Mark Massara, Christine Craft; our Surfrider Foundation team; and all of you who took the time to write and call your legislators and the Governor to ask for their support.  THANK YOU!!!

We will look forward to engaging with the State Lands Commission in a public process to permanently restore public access to Martin’s Beach.

Supporters can act now by signing the petition to the State Lands Commission supporting this process.