Star Wars creator George Lucas sues San Anselmo over driveway

SAN ANSELMO, Calif. - Star Wars creator George Lucas has filed a complaint in Marin County Superior Court over a strip of land he's been using as a driveway.

The Marin Independent Journal reported that he wants to ensure that the strip of land known as the "Parcel" it isn't claimed by the heirs of several of his neighbors, who have since died.

San Anselmo is a 30-minute drive from San Francisco with a population of about 12,000 residents. 

He filed his complaint in May over a paved driveway leading from Essex Avenue to the strip of land, which is on Coogan Avenue. 

Lucas believes that four of his dead neighbors might have been granted an easement over a portion of the strip and that two other dead neighbors "may have had an interest in the Strip," the complaint says.

Lucas alleges he’s been using the land since around 1990, when he graded the driveway, and which he later paved in 2021. It has been used exclusively by him or by people authorized by him.

The heirs of these deceased neighbors are named as defendants in the complaint along with the town of San Anselmo. The residents who died are Lyford Sinclair, Richard Brode, Mary Whelan, George Raymond, Emma Goodale and John and Pauline Richards.

San Anselmo Town Manager David Donery told the Marin IJ that the town attorney must meet with the council to figure out whether a "disclaimer of interest should be filed."

Marin County tax assessor documents show that Lucas owns at least 24 parcels in San Anselmo with a combined assessed value of more than $41.6 million, the IJ reported. 

The Coogan Avenue parcel has an assessed value of just over $1 million and includes a 1,170-square-foot house with one bedroom and one bathroom.