Billionaire venture capitalist wants to block public from accessing Martins Beach in Half Moon Bay

If you’ve ever been to Half Moon Bay, you know just how beautiful that coast is. And you probably understand how important it is that our beaches and coastline are shared by all, especially since the voters of California created the Coastal Commission to ensure just that. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla disagrees in a letter to legislators:

“Martin’s beach is private property, including the sandy beach and the submerged tidelands seaward of the mean high tide,”  argued lobbyists hired by Khosla in a letter to state lawmakers. “There are no existing ‘public’ lands to which access is needed.”

The techie tycoon’s hired guns were trying to convince lawmakers to vote against a bill by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo requiring the State Lands Commission to buy the road or obtain access rights to Martins Beach, 6 miles south of Half Moon Bay. The Senate passed the bill 22 to 11 Wednesday. It will now be taken up by the Assembly. (SF Gate)

Do some googling for additional photos of the beach, it is really extraordinarily beautiful and deserves to be open to the public.