Dude you’re on my land.
Billionaire Vinod Khosla, a Sun Microsystems co-founder is battling a surfing group looking to gain public access to a northern California beach on the 56-acre plot Khosla bought for $32.5 million.
Khosla is dueling the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, which describes its mission as “the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network.”
In closing arguments on Thursday, Surfrider’s lawyer, Joseph Cotchett, said, “Take off that lock, Mr. Khosla.”
The group claims that by locking a gate on a beach access road near Half Moon Bay, Calif., Khosla is effectively engaged in beach development without the permit required by the California Coastal Act. Surfrider is seeking fines of as much as $15,000 a day since October 2010, or about $20 million to date.
But Khosla’s lawyers fired back that their client is protecting what is his. “My client’s property is not a state park,” argued lawyer Jeffrey Essner. “My client’s property is private property.”
San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach is expected to rule on the case in the fall.