Today, Judge Barbara Mallach of the San Mateo County Superior Court, ruled that Martin’s Beach property owner Vinod Khosla’s failure to obtain a Coastal Development Permit before blocking access to Martin’s Beach was illegal.
“Today’s decision is a huge victory for all of the people of California. It affirms that great wealth cannot be used to circumvent and ignore the law. Everyone can again visit Martin’s Beach,” said Joe Cotchett of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, whose firm represents the victorious Surfrider Foundation.
“Today, the people of California can declare victory in the fight to restore public access to Martin’s Beach. Coastal access is a right of all the people of this state,” said Eric Buescher another attorney at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy. “Today’s decision affirms that right is more than a hollow promise.”
Thanks to the efforts of Surfrider Foundation, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP and the countless community members and activists who have spent their time and effort working to reopen Martin’s Beach, the public once again has access to this treasured and historical place.
Judge Mallach is the latest in a growing line of judges and county and state personnel and regulators to determine that the owner’s unilateral decision to prevent the public from accessing the coast at Martin’s Beach was illegal.
Another one of the trial attorneys from Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, Pete McCloskey, represented the peninsula in Congress for 16 years and used Martin’s Beach as a student at Stanford University over 60 years ago said, “I went there for parties when I was in law school, and now everyone else in this community will have that same opportunity.”
A copy of the Court’s decision is available below.
