George Lucas may be known for his great hits like?Star Wars; however, residents in Marin County are about to see the dark side of Lucas. (I’m writing this while listening to “The Imperial March”).
Marin County residents are about to receive a blow to their egos and their property values. Marin County executives?gave the thumbs up for Lucas to build another movie production studio on Grady Ranch, which is near Skywalker Ranch.
Despite this however, Lucas’ plans were halted in 2007 due to resident concerns about lowering property values.?Lucas had even planned to build a wine cave that would eventually become a grassy knoll which would hide the studio from the road.?According to?The Daily Kos?the county is:
“…one of the wealthiest counties in the United States. The median home price in Marin County is an eye-popping $950,000.”
Residents put together a homeowners’ association and in a letter to Lucas said that the project would, “pose a serious and alarming threat to the nature of our valley and our community… dwarf the average Costco warehouse,” and light pollution would destroy their “dark starry skies.”
So, Lucas abandoned the movie studio project. However, he has plans for the land that has been going unused for several years.
He’s?announced that he will be using the land to build 224 affordable housing?units in the Bay area. Let me emphasize that and say it again. He will be using his own property, where the studio was planned to be built, and he has said he will pay for the project himself for low-income housing.
Can you imagine the faces of the residents when they heard the news? They probably should have took him up on the movie production studio. They aren’t happy to say the least. They feel it’s?revenge for halting the studio construction.
Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents, stated:
“It’s inciting class warfare.”
However, Lucas claims that is not the case and that he only wants “to do something good for Marin” and that there is a “real need” for affordable housing in the area. He has further stated:
“I’ve been surprised to see some people characterize this as vindictive… I wouldn’t waste my time or money just to try and upset the neighbors.”
Sure, OK George. Whatever you say. There is absolutely no way he can be doing this completely out of the kindness of his heart. He is known for his many philanthropic deeds. However, there has to be just a shred of “I’ll show them” going on in his head. I’m not going to judge though.
Frankly put, this is something that should be done around our country – not by one really grotesquely rich man for whatever reasoning he may have. He could come up with a million other ways to get revenge. He could build a huge statue in the middle of his land of Jar Jar Binks if he wanted to or at least give the county hell trying to get it done. He could sell it to someone who wanted to build a million-dollar home and just bank the money. He could just let it sit unused. However, 224 homes for low-income families? Wow. It’s a revenge that will help quite a few people, and honestly, it sounds like?the reality check the Marin County residents need.
