As Martins Beach talks fail, eminent domain could be next

File - In this May 12, 2014, file photo, Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla leaves San Mateo County Superior Courthouse after testifying in Redwood City, Calif. California's Coastal Commission is asking the public to document its use of Martin's Beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif., after billionaire landowner Khosla closed the only access road to it. (AP Photo/Bay Area News Group, Karl Mondon, File) MAGS OUT; NO SALES less File - In this May 12, 2014, file photo, Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla leaves San Mateo County Superior Courthouse after testifying in Redwood City, Calif. California's Coastal Commission is asking ... more Photo: Karl Mondon, Associated Press Photo: Karl Mondon, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close As Martins Beach talks fail, eminent domain could be next 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

The infamous beach imbroglio over access to a crescent-shaped cove near Half Moon Bay has hit a dead end, forcing the state to contemplate seizing the land from the billionaire owner and establishing a public right-of-way against his will.

The California State Lands Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday to consider acquiring through eminent domain 6.39 acres — encompassing about 2,500 feet of roadway — at Martins Beach from venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

The hearing comes after two years of fruitless negotiations over public access and several more years of sand kicking between lawyers over Khosla’s decision in 2010 to block the only road leading to the picturesque beach.

The co-founder of Sun Microsystems and current proprietor of Khosla Ventures purchased the 89-acre property, which includes the beach and access road, for $32.5 million in 2008. He has offered to open the beach for a limited number of days, but said he would not grant an easement unless California pays him $30 million.

“Commission staff has spent considerable time researching the property and investigating what type of easement would be most useful to the public,” said a staff report, which claimed the value of the land needed for an easement is much less than Khosla wants. “It is staff’s opinion that it cannot reach a negotiated agreement with Martins Beach LLC to acquire a public access easement to and along Martins Beach.”

The commission will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. in Sacramento, at 1020 11th St., followed by a closed session to discuss what to do next.

“This is an opportunity for the State Lands Commission to send a message that California’s beaches can’t be bought and defend the public’s right to access our coastline,” said Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who sponsored SB968, which authorizes the lands commission to invoke eminent domain if negotiations with Khosla fail. “I encourage Bay Area residents to join me on Tuesday and speak in support of public access at Martins Beach.”

The seashore skirmish erupted after Khosla insisted he had the right to bar the public anytime he wanted from the road, beach, coastal cliffs and even the submerged tidelands, which the state claims is under its jurisdiction. He fired the latest salvo on Sept. 30, when he sued the State Lands Commission, California Coastal Commission and San Mateo County in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleging harassment and unfair treatment. The suit also charges the agencies with trying to take his property without just compensation.

“On multiple occasions over the past few years, the property owner has offered to continue to allow paid access to Martins Beach on days when historical demand exceeded 10 cars per day,” said Khosla’s lawyer Dori Yob in an email, insisting that other “cooperative solutions” involving education, research, restoration and species preservation were also offered.

“Alternatively, the property owner has also offered to sell the property to the state at fair market value,” she said.

Khosla has repeatedly referenced a decision by Superior Court Judge Gerald Buchwald in 2013 saying, in essence, that the beach had been in private hands long before laws were passed requiring public access to the coast. Then, in September 2014, Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach ruled that Khosla’s failure to obtain a coastal development permit before blocking access to the beach was illegal — and ordered the gate reopened.

The deadline for the lands commission to negotiate with Khosla passed almost a year ago, leaving the eminent domain option, which, if taken by the commission on Tuesday, would almost certainly lead to another costly courthouse kerfuffle.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite