Sounds familiar
It’s deja vu all over again
Interesting article in the Patriot Ledger criticizing the giant movie studio being planned for Plymouth. It was written by Laurien Enos – Plymouth Town Meeting representative from Precinct 5.
It all sounds so familiar. If you substitute “movie studio” with “casino” it is very reminiscent of the feelings many of us have about the tax-exempt Bingo hall aka casino being planned for Middleboro, Massachusetts by the Mashpee Wampanoags and those fine upstanding businessmen Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman.
Now I don’t have any particular problem with the Plymouth movie studio – I haven’t done any research on it. This article makes some compelling points about smart growth and the abandoning of long-held community planning and conservation.
The similarity:
Big money + gullibility of townspeople= duped in a BIG WAY.
This is an interesting article. I think Laurien Enos has brought up some real concerns about impacts as well as how the deal was handled. What I find surprising (though I guess I really shouldn’t) is the outright abusive comments by some to her valid concerns. I personally don’t understand why this studio can’t build on land that is already commercially zoned. I agree with Ms. Enos that the land they are building on is completely inappropriate for this project.
The tax credits, which are saleable, offered by the state are one more example of misguided fiscal policy. We’re subsidizing this targeted industry on the pretext of job creation and not get our money’s worth. I’m not sure we’re getting our money’s worth and we’re surrendering local control in the process.
It’s surprising that the numerically challenged Middleboro BOS didn’t vigorously pursue this deal. Oh, wait! They gave away a chunk of land to the casino investors, so we’re all out of $14K/per acre deals! Or maybe Jack didn’t think of it soon enough.