George Lucas - 2nd largest house in Marin, 15,000 + sq. feet, wants to improve his view!!!

Lucas says he'll pick up tab to bury utility lines
Tad Whitaker
Article Launched: 03/13/2007 12:19:27 AM PDT

Filmmaker George Lucas has offered to pay to bury utility wires underground in his San Anselmo neighborhood. (IJ photo/Frankie Frost)
Filmmaker George Lucas plans to ask the San Anselmo Town Council for permission Tuesday night to bury overhead utility lines to improve views from his San Anselmo compound - and he is offering to pay for the entire $900,000 project that would benefit 17 other property owners.

Town project manager George Davison said Lucas's staff has already prepared construction plans and made contact with Pacific Gas & Electric Co., AT&T and Comcast, along with 17 neighbors who stand to benefit.

"Mr. Lucas is absorbing the entire cost of this proposed project," Lucas spokeswoman Sarita Patel said.

Lucas has lived in his tree-shrouded compound atop a knoll just north of Red Hill Avenue for 33 years, according to Patel.

At 15,159 square feet, the main house, a towering white Victorian at 52 Ancho Vista Ave., is the second-largest residence in Marin County. The property also includes guest facilities and offers unobstructed views of downtown San Anselmo and Bald Hill Open Space Preserve.

With a fortune estimated at $3.6 billion, Forbes magazine last week listed placed the Marin filmmaker at No. 243 on its annual list of the world's billionaires.

Patel said representatives for Lucas contacted the town in early 2006 about burying the
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utility lines that run the entire length of Park Drive and 250 feet up Ancho Vista Avenue.

"Doing that would greatly enhance the views from his home and grounds located in the area," Davison, the town's project manager, wrote in a report for council members.

"I think it's real community oriented," said Sandi Zenner, who lives across Park Drive from the compound.

Zenner, 57, said she enjoys living across from Lucas' beautiful landscaping. She said his proposal came at a good time because
she recently noticed how thick the tree branches have grown around the utility lines directly above her apartment.

"Maybe it's good for safety," she said.

MEETING

The San Anselmo Town Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Ross Valley School District at 110 Shaw Drive