Restore Access by Taking This Survey

Photo courtesy of Judy Allen

The California Coastal Commission has made available a public access survey to gather data on when and how the public accessed Martin's Beach over past decades.  This survey is part of an investigation to determine whether any public rights of access to and/or use of the area exist by reason of past public use.  The data collected could be used to support restoration of public access to the beach in the future.  If you ever visited Martin's Beach before it was owned by Mr. Khosla, please take this survey!


Direct link to PDF file of survey:  http://www.coastal.ca.gov/legal/Martins-PRS-Final.pdf
Do you lack a printer or tech capabilities?  Contact us and we'll send you a printed survey in the mail.

Instructions
Please be sure to:

• print out the blank survey and complete it - document your visits to the best of your ability,
• SIGN and DATE the document on pages 4 AND 15,
• provide any supplementary documentation (i.e. copies of old photos, videos), 
• make a copy of everything (for your records), and 
• send the original signed document to the Coastal Commission 
• **ask everyone you know that used to visit Martin's Beach to please take the survey!** Send them the link above.

Surveys can be sent to the Coastal Commission the following ways:

• California Coastal Commission
  ATTN: Peter Allen
  45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000
  San Francisco, CA 94105-2219

• Fax signed copy to (415) 904-5400

• Scan signed document and email signed copy to MartinsBeachPRS@coastal.ca.gov
  

You can read more about the survey and the Commission's action here.

Setting the Record Straight

In recent media interviews, Vinod Khosla has alleged, amongst other things, that Surfrider Foundation has not been willing to negotiate.  This same allegation has been leveled in court and in the state legislature.  Like the other allegations, this allegation is not only untrue but unwise, as we have documented our every step in the effort to restore access to Martin's Beach.

For a timeline of events associated with the campaign to Open Martin's Beach, please see here.

The timeline also includes links to correspondence that show Surfrider's, the County's, and the beach-going community's efforts to communicate with Mr. Khosla to preserve and restore access by means other than litigation.  Ironically, a letter from Khosla's attorney in 2011 makes clear that it is Mr. Khosla who has been unwilling to negotiate and who has sought litigation from the outset. 

Surfrider Foundation is disheartened that Mr. Khosla is using his energy and resources in such a negative way to broadcast false accusations, instead of taking the very easy and positive step of reaching out to begin a community dialogue about restoring public access to Martin's Beach.  Again, we beseech him to consider this opportunity to move forward in a positive and mutually beneficial way.

An Op Ed from Surfrider Foundation CEO Jim Moriarty on this subject ran here last Friday.

An Open Letter to Vinod Khosla

February 3, 2014

To: Vinod Khosla

As of writing this letter, it has been 2.5 years since we first wrote to you to ask that you engage in a dialogue about your closure of Martin’s Beach to the public.   At that time, we could only guess that you were the owner, as there was no public documentation of the name of the new owner of the property adjacent to the beach, other than “Martin’s Beach I, LLC” and Martin’s Beach II, LLC”.  You opted to hide your name from the public for reasons we can only assume, like avoiding public scrutiny and outreach efforts in response to closure of the only road leading to this well-loved beach.

Now that you have been “outed,” your name and face have been associated with this issue, yet you still hide behind proxies who act and speak on your behalf.  This runs contrary to your very public persona that is constantly in the limelight, advocating for cleantech solutions or advising others on achieving success in the tech sector. 

Such behavior also runs contrary to statements made on your behalf, such as “the property owner strives to be a constructive member of the community”, despite being “very aware of the community concern about the situation.” [i]  Certainly it does not reflect that you “feel badly about the controversy surrounding Martin’s Beach.”[ii]  Shirking attempts to engage you in a dialogue reveals you to be rather disinterested in a “community conversation” or an outcome that would be “constructive.”

It almost seems like you think by ignoring the community we will go away.  Like we will forget about this beach that families have enjoyed and built lives around, or forget about the bigger picture of public access to beaches in California. 

We won’t.

Surfrider Foundation continues to hope for a constructive conversation that will result in both public access to Martin’s Beach and respect for the local private property.

We call upon you, Mr. Khosla, to step into the light and demonstrate that you are a constructive member of the community by engaging in a conversation with the community.  Dialogue could eliminate the need for litigation and lead to an amicable solution to give the public access to the beach they cherish.

Citizens wishing to join this call to action to Mr. Khosla may do so here: http://tinyurl.com/write-2-khosla

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[i] http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Surfers-lose-fight-to-access-Half-Moon-Bay-beach-4926919.php

[ii] http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/11/06/erin-wian-billionaire-closes-off-california-beach.cnn.html