The white wooden gates will officially open to the public at 10 a.m. Monday, said Steve Hoye, head of Access for All, the nonprofit group that will oversee the beach path.
He said workers would be hired to monitor both the walkway and the public's use of beach areas in front of Geffen's enclave from sunrise to sunset daily through Labor Day.
Geffen did not attend the noontime ceremony.
But Hoye had kind words for the Hollywood mogul, who had pledged in 1983 to open a public pathway to the beach in exchange for Coastal Commission permission to build his Cape Cod-style compound across several beachfront lots.
"In the end, Mr. Geffen has done the right thing. We're going to try to be the best neighbors we can," Hoye said.
Signs identifying the pathway to PCH passersby will be erected, Hoye said. Eventually, he hopes to install automatic timer-controlled locks on the walkway's gates so they do not have to be manually unlocked in the morning and relocked at night, he said.
Beach surveillance cameras aside, the issue of public easement through Geffen's oceanfront property has been closely watched both in California and elsewhere. Geffen's fight gained national attention when he was lampooned in Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" comic strip.
Hoye said an effort may be made to secure permission to name Geffen's pathway after a Doonesbury character.
Geffen, a movie and music producer ranked by Forbes magazine as the 40th-richest American, has an estimated net worth of $4 billion. He made his initial fortune in the music industry, then co-founded the film studio DreamWorks SKG.
Access for All assumed responsibility for the beach path after the city of Malibu, Los Angeles County and the Coastal Conservancy declined to do so. The public agencies contended that they had neither the money nor the personnel needed to manage such walkways.
In 2002, Geffen sued in an unsuccessful attempt to block the beach entryway, arguing that Access for All lacked the resources to take care of it and that such an easement violated state environmental rules and his own property rights.
Hoye's group is providing liability insurance and will pay the walkway monitors. Those workers will help beachgoers determine where they can place their blankets and umbrellas without angering Geffen or his guards.
