13 ms·
California Court Orders Vinod Khosla to Reopen Disputed Beach
- mwnivek 9y agoPrevious discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14984639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14984639 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14984770 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14984770
- spodek 9y ago> One year later, his management companies closed the gate and put up a no-access sign. A billboard that had advertised beach access was painted over. What a jerk.
- JKCalhoun 9y agoChrist, what an asshole!
- late2part 9y agoHave you met Vinod? He's..... intense.
- themodelplumber 9y agoWho hasn't met Vinod?! I was just Vinodding myself the other day, and I thought "why not call Vinod, do some Vinod together?" Of course he's out in Vinod, doing some Vinod with friends. That Vinod...intense is a good word for Vinod!
- dnh44 9y agoIt sounds like you have a story to tell. Do tell it.
- simonebrunozzi 9y agoWithout reading the article, I know this is Vinod Khosla. The title should reflect that: put his name there, and save us a click to know who he is.
- roflchoppa 9y agois there a vote2edit feature? /rockthevote
- s73ver_ 9y agoSo, how do we make sure that he never tries to pull this stunt again? The level of fines the law allows doesn't seem to be doing anything.
- curun1r 9y agoYou could make it more than just a fight over coastal access. You could make it so that he has more at stake than just this case. He publishes a list of companies his firm has a financial interest in: http://www.khoslaventures.com/portfolio/all-companies http://www.khoslaventures.com/portfolio/all-companies If people truly care about this issue, they can organize public campaigns against those companies as a message to founders to avoid his money or face consequences. He may laugh off fines the court imposes, but this being a stain on his professional reputation would be more damaging. But it would be hard to pull off. There are some HN favorites in there. How many people here are willing to avoid Stripe or Gitlab over beach access? He's betting that it's not many.
- nitrogen 9y agoThat kind of scorched earth tactic is simply inhumane, regardless of the target.
- lovich 9y agoHow is it inhumane?
- nitrogen 9y agoIt's barbaric overkill. It affects other parties far more than the target. It's emblematic of a vicious vindictiveness that is unbecoming of members of a cohesive society. It's simply disgusting to dig into unrelated matters over a relatively petty dispute. It shows no sense of proportionality, charity, or kindness. It is ultimately counterproductive to the creation of the kind of world we all ought to be creating for our mutual benefit.
- robohamburger 9y agoI am surprised more states do not have laws like Hawaii's where you are required to provide beach access. Shame for such a nice beach to go to waste.
- khazhoux 9y agoThey do. He ignores and contravenes them.
- shagie 9y agoThat is the law for California. http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sdut-public-right-beach-access-coastal-commission-2015feb05-story.html http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sdut-... > In 2014 the Legislature and Governor Brown gave the California Coastal Commission the authority to fine property owners who intentionally block public access to the coast. That authority was included in the 2015-2016 state budget, based on legislation I had written in 2013 to achieve the same goal. The California Costal Commission website - https://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/prc-access.html https://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/prc-access.html And then from there to https://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/pr-access-facts.pdf https://www.coastal.ca.gov/access/pr-access-facts.pdf > The California Coastal Act, Public Resources Code Section 30211, states: > Development shall not interfere with the public’s right of access to the sea where acquired through use, or legislative authorization, including, but not limited to, the use of dry sand and rocky coastal beaches to the first line of terrestrial vegetation.
- 9y ago
- khazhoux 9y agoI can see his point of view, though: as a rich man, he should be able to do what he wants, and lay claim to this beautiful stretch of the Pacific Ocean.
- wpietri 9y agoWhy stop there? As a rich man, he should be able to replace his failing liver by claiming yours. Alas, he can't in either case, because we the people have created limiting the unchecked exercise of power.
- khazhoux 9y agoSure, there are laws limiting the totally unchecked exercise of power. Your example is too extreme, though. In my case, I was being sarcastic... yet it's nearly true. His mega-wealth let him buy the oceanside estate to begin with, and then his mega-wealth lets him ignore fines. The laws against this abuse are (as evidence here) quite weak.
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoI know sarcasm is hard to nail down on the internet, but I thought that one was pretty clear.
- lovich 9y agoYou'd think so but I've met people who havr, in total seriousness, stated that a dollar of their money was worth more than 10,000 human lives and they shouldn't have to pay any taxes to help out other citizens. Some people truly believe that if you have more money, you are a better person
- pasbesoin 9y agoGiven all the years and precedent of access (throughout the State of California), I would hope that any stay of the order pending further litigation would be denied. And that, if he then continues to refuse, he be jailed for contempt of court. In my own little childhood hometown, I've watched public beach access (to a lake) become more and more locked up behind fees and limited hours of access and upscaling property values and home ownership that wants to keep things quiet and for themselves. The quiet part, I appreciate. The "keep out" part, not so much. The childhood memories I have of times spent there, are simply no longer possible. It's all on lockdown. Something lost in that -- something significant, in my opinion.
- Animats 9y agoThe Zonker Harris Beach Accessway in Malibu is "closed for repairs" again.[1] Closed for over a year now. [1] http://beaches.lacounty.gov/zonker-harris-accessway-closed-for-repair/ http://beaches.lacounty.gov/zonker-harris-accessway-closed-f...
- fizixer 9y agoWhy is a beach up for sale if it's not up for private gating? (Why doesn't California declare its coastline public property that is not-for-sale?) edit: Just found out the answer. Beaches themselves are never for sale, even though properties right up to the edge of the beach are. Next question: Are all river banks public property too? Can you not build a manufacturing plant at a river bank? What about lakes? Are lakes public property?
- DannyBee 9y agoIt already did. California Constitution, Title X, section 4.
- toufka 9y agoMany places consider the land below the high-water line of navigable waterways to be public (in midwest US at least). So if you're canoeing down the river and eat lunch on the bank, you're generally not trespassing. Smaller lakes are generally not considered navigable, though I'm not sure how it works for huge lakes like Michigan. I suspect a similar 'high-water' line is relevant. You'd truly be pretty dense if you wanted to build a permenant structure below the high water mark.
- molsongolden 9y agoThis holds true in most of the west as well and provides access for river paddlers/floaters/fishermen.
- rhizome 9y agoJust so we don't go over the same thing again, Khosla's unique claim is that the title to the land derives from a land grant from before California was a state, with which he justifies disregarding the CCC. A year after the case was filed, however, a San Mateo County Superior Court judge dealt Friends of Martin’s Beach a setback, ruling there was no right of access. He said the property was subject to the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an agreement that ended the Mexican-American War and required the United States to recognize Mexican land grants. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-martins-beach-snap-20161026-story.html http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-martins-beach-sn...
- option 9y agoWhat a pathetic creature really
- desireco42 9y agoDid anyone tried to organize a protest, show up en-masse on 'his' beach etc? From what I understand, you could use a boat, show up at the beach, party and leave with boat and you are within legal use.