George Lucas files lawsuit against Marin town to safeguard his driveway

George Lucas created the Star Wars universe, crafting a cast of characters and a compelling narrative that’s captivated audiences for decades. But he’s also established a physical empire of his own in Marin County — dubbed Skywalker Ranch — one he goes out of his way to protect.

The famed director filed a lawsuit in May against the heirs of his deceased neighbors, as well as the town of San Anselmo, in an effort to safeguard a strip of land he uses as a driveway, as first reported by the Marin Independent Journal.

“Lucas believes that four deceased neighbors might have been granted an easement over a portion of the strip and that two other deceased neighbors ‘may have had an interest in the Strip,’” the paper says in its summary of the complaint.

Lucas alleges in the complaint that 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.

“We are taking this procedural action to clean up century-old surveying errors, so that they reflect the reality of use and ownership on the ground,” Diego Flores, an attorney working for Lucas, told SFGATE via email.

San Anselmo Town Manager David Donery told the Marin IJ that the town council will meet to discuss the matter.

This isn’t the first time the famed director has filed a complaint against the town of San Anselmo. In 2020, he sued the town and a family that used to own his home to clear up a discrepancy over a property line near his house.

Lucas purchased the land near Nicasio in 1978, but didn’t begin squabbling with the surrounding community until years later. The Modesto-born director canceled plans to build a third expansion to his 6,100-acre property in 2012 after residents expressed concern, including a fear that light pollution from the studio would mean “our dark starry skies would be destroyed.”

Another war broke out between Lucas and the his neighbors in 2019, when Lucas proposed building a vineyard at 3838 Lucas Valley Road, not far from the Skywalker Ranch. This showdown pitted Lucas’ Skywalker Properties against the Nicasio Land Owners Association, which complained that the director’s proposed 624-acre vineyard would be an eyesore, and threatened to take him to court if needed.

SFGATE editor-at-large Andrew Chamings contributed to this story.