The California Coastal Commission is asking people who have visited Martins Beach to complete a survey about their experiences. The commission, which is responsible for protecting public access along California’s coast, will use survey responses to document historic public use of the beach, known as “prescriptive use.”
The San Mateo County beach had been open to the public for almost a century. The previous owners let visitors pay a parking fee to visit it.
Then in 2008, Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Kohsla purchased the property. Since then, Martins Beach Road — the only access road to the surfers’ paradise — has been closed.
The goal of the survey is to establish the nature and extent of public use of the property before Khosla bought it.