From the CapeCodTimes.com:
By Sarah Shemkus
PLYMOUTH — Resounding cheers and a standing ovation greeted a pair of town meeting votes last night that effectively gave a green light to Plymouth Rock Studios. The vast majority of the 116 town meeting members present approved warrant articles creating special zoning and tax breaks for the proposed movie studio project....
Hundreds of spectators attended the meeting in Plymouth Memorial Hall.
The zoning article calls for the establishment of a new overlay district in which movie and entertainment production and related support activities will be allowed.
An amendment to the article was also approved that will allow the studio developers to move forward with construction without having to seek special permits for their traffic mitigation and site access plans.
Without this measure, some had feared, a few opponents could have tied up the project with legal appeals, driving the studio developers to seek a site in a different town.
"This means that the chances of Plymouth Rock Studio becoming a reality have increased exponentially," said Loring Tripp, a studio supporter and former chairman of the planning board. "We don't have to worry about frivolous lawsuits holding it up."
The tax increment financing agreement gives the studio a 75 percent break on property taxes for the first five years it is in operation. The tax exemption will then be reduced over time until it expires in 2030.
A long list of speakers — studio executives, municipal leaders, tourism officials — spoke in favor of the project....
In a memorandum of understanding signed before the town meeting, studio developers committed to significant infrastructure investment including the construction of sewer lines and traffic mitigation measures.
Studio planners have committed to investing $553 million in developing the project, according to the tax break agreement. The proposed studio would include 14 sound stages, office buildings, a hotel, post-production facilities, a 900-seat theater, restaurants, a visitors center and a 10-acre back lot.
The studio is to be built on 240 acres of land currently owned and occupied by the Waverly Oaks Golf Club. If construction proceeds according to schedule, groundbreaking will occur in spring 2009 and the studio will open for business in September 2010.
(This is not an RIFC Event)