A legislative line in the sand is being drawn against a wealthy oceanfront property owner who blocked public access to a popular beach near Half Moon Bay.

Senator Jerry Hill, D- San Mateo, announced Thursday that he will introduce a bill in the state senate to restore access to the sandy haven known as Martins Beach.

Hill plans to introduce the bill at 11 a.m. Monday during a news conference at a gate that was put up by billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla to block Martins Beach Road, the only way the public can get to the beach.

San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley, members of the Surfrider Foundation and other coast side residents will join the senator.

The dispute has led to lawsuits, arrests of surfers and focused national attention on California laws that are supposed to guarantee public access to coastal areas. It has also provoked widespread public criticism of Khosla, who paid $37.5 million six years ago for the property, which includes 45 leased cabins along the coastal cliffs.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Gerald Buchwald ruled last October that Khosla had a legal right to block access. He based the decision on the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War and required the United States to recognize Mexican land grants. The ruling said, in essence, that the beach had been in private hands long before laws were passed requiring public access to the coast.

The public, which had been allowed on the 200-acre crescent-shaped beach for more than a century, may still visit, but the only way to get there now is from the ocean.

Hill’s bill would require the State Lands Commission to enter into negotiations with Khosla. If an agreement can’t be reached within a year, according to the bill, the commission would have to acquire all or a portion of the property by eminent domain to create a public access road.