Thursday June 21, 2007
George Clooney has joined a campaign to stop planned construction around his Lake Como, Italy, home and threatened to move out if bulldozers arrive.
Over four years ago the Ocean's Thirteen star bought a waterside property called Villa Oleandra, worth nearly $6 million, which he uses as a summer home.
Clooney, 46, and other residents are up in arms about recent proposals made by the mayor of the village of Laglio to develop the area around Lake Como. The plans include building a parking lot complete with lifts and moving walkways across the street from the village, as well as a floating bridge that would pass close to Clooney’s villa.
The actor is so strongly against the project that he has joined a committee to fight the plans proposed by Mayor Giuseppe Mantero. He even held the group’s first meeting inside Villa Oleandra.
“I don’t want my presence here to be a pain to the other citizens, but if you ask me these proposals are in every probability just to exploit the fact that I live here,” he said.
A-listers like Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are regular guests at the mansion, where he also filmed scenes for the film Ocean’s Twelve.
“I have no problems with plans that are welcomed by the rest of the community,” he continued. “I am more than happy to sell up and move elsewhere -- this project is absurd.”
This isn’t the first time that Clooney offered to put his neighbors’ needs before his own. Two years ago he pulled out of a deal to buy the beach in front of his villa after locals complained they would have no access to Lake Como.
Update: Mayor Mantero tells Us Weekly that he decided to discontinue the construction deal after locals blasted the plan.
"I decided to give up the project," he tells Us, adding that Clooney is one of the village's most beloved residents. "To mister Clooney we gave the honorary citizenship. We all are proud of his choice to live here on Lake Como."
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Posted by Noelle Hancock at 11:16 am ET
