A $28 million gift to the people of Southern California is under threat from four wealthy residents determined, through a law suit filed Friday, to scuttle a planned “everyman’s” public beach club at the former Marion Davies Estate built by William Randolph Hearst in the 1920s.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Friday, challenges the project's Environmental Impact Report and claims the proposed club would violate a local ballot measure passed by Santa Monica voters that limits beachfront commercial development. Both the city and the measure's authors say the claim is baseless.

For more information, including links to the Los Angeles Times story and a copy of the lawsuit, please visit www.friendsof415.org.