Kanye’s ‘Star Wars’-themed homeless shelter could get the Death Star treatment

What: The probable demolition of some Calabasas-based prototypes for Star Wars-themed homeless housing.

Who: Kanye West (who else?)

Why we care: Perhaps the fact that his first album featured a song called “Spaceship” should have been a hint that Kanye West might be a Star Wars obsessive. In any case, he confirmed his more-than-casual fandom earlier this summer when, buried within a sprawling July interview with Forbes, the controversy magnet casually mentioned he had built prototypes for Star Wars-inspired homeless housing. (Because, famously, the worst part of being inside any homeless shelter is the lack of resemblance to Luke Skywalker’s childhood home on the planet Tatooine.)

Of course, anyone who has paid attention to Kanye West’s last few years might have guessed that this typically bizarre plan might hit a snag. According to TMZ, the four prototype structures he built on 300 acres of Calabasas land are in violation of building code. Apparently, neighbors had been complaining to the L.A. County Department of Public Works, after which inspectors concluded that Kanye was missing some property permits. If he doesn’t acquire them by September 15, the vaguely R2-D2-shaped structures will . . . all fall down.

It looks like the dream of living near the power converters-filled Toshi Station may be dead. Don’t count Kanye out, though. Both he and wife Kim Kardashian have pull with some authorities much higher than the L.A. County Department of Public Works, if probably not authorities as highly placed as Kanye thinks.