George Lucas sues dead neighbors, San Anselmo over driveway access

Star Wars creator George Lucas is suing his deceased neighbors and the town of San Anselmo to assure continued access to a driveway he says he has used since 1990. 

Lucas filed a complaint in Marin County Superior Court to make sure that he is still able to access the driveway of one of his numerous properties in the Marin town after becoming aware that the paved driveway leading from Essex Avenue to his  parcel on Coogan is not part of that parcel, according to the Marin Independent Journal. 

“Until recently, plaintiff believed the strip was part of the parcel,” the suit states. “Plaintiff has learned that the strip is actually not within the parcel’s mete and bounds.”

Lucas named four dead neighbors and the town of San Anselmo in the suit because he believes those neighbors could have been granted an easement over a portion of the strip of land that includes the driveway. The complaint also argues that two other dead neighbors “may have had an interest in the strip.” 

An attorney working for Lucas told the MIJ that the suit was filed to “clean up century-old surveying errors, so that they reflect the reality of use and ownership on the ground.”

San Anselmo Town Manager David Donery told the newspaper that the next step is for the town attorney to meet in a closed session to discuss whether or not “a disclaimer of interest should be filed.”

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Lucas owns at least 24 parcels in San Anselmo, according to Marin County tax assessor documents. They have a combined assessed value of more than $40 million with the 1.8-acre Coogan Avenue parcel in question having an assessed value of about $1 million. It has a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home that Lucas added in 1998.

This isn’t the first time Lucas has sued over driveway access to one of his San Anselmo properties. In 2020, he filed suit against the former owner and the town over a similar sliver of land that he said was mistakenly left out of his 2007 purchase of that property. 

– Emily Landes