By Andrew Sheeler | Sacramento Bee
A California beach will remain open to the public, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take the case of a Silicon Valley billionaire seeking to close off its road access.
While the 40-year-old California Coastal Act protects the public’s right to walk on any beach in the state, at stake in the case of Surfrider Foundation v. Martins Beach was whether Vinod Khosla could erect a gate across a road used to get to a beach just south of Half Moon Bay, in San Mateo County.
The Surfrider Foundation took Khosla to court when he did just that, and in September 2014, the court ruled in the foundation’s favor, according to a statement from the coastal advocacy group; that ruling later was upheld by the state appeals court and the California Supreme Court.
By refusing Khosla’s case, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively signaled that the previous judicial ruling stands.
“Today, however, we celebrate a hard-fought win based on California law that, once again, has proven to protect our treasured natural resources,” according to a Surfrider Foundation statement.
