Texas has stolen a major portion of our technology industry. Many large companies have moved out of California into Texas, as well as small ones. Now we will see the movie industry, Hollywood, leaving as well. Why? NO corporate income tax in Tax. No personal income tax. The cost of gas is about $1.50 cheaper, housing is about half and they have a government, except for Austin and Houston that protect citizens. Oh, in California you need armed bodyguards. In Texas they allow open carry of guns without the need for a government approval.
“The proposed development — known as the Bastrop 552 Development — would comprise 546 acres in Bastrop, west of Lovers Lane and the River Meadows subdivision and is bounded by the Colorado River on the project’s western edge. The development’s primary use will be a film studio but it will include a mixture of uses, such as recreation, studio space and other accommodations that serve the studio and its customers.
This town is near Austin. Watch as other studios move to Texas—along with the actions and the workers that create the movies and TV shows. Georgia is already a major hub for movies and TV—Hollywood is going to be left with whiners and haters.
Bastrop City Council approves development agreement for 546-acre film studio proposal
Cameron Drummond, Austin American-Statesman, 6/24/21
The Bastrop City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a development agreement between the city and Alton Butler II, the founder and owner of Line 204 Studios, for a proposed 546-acre film studio project near the Colorado River.
The council’s decision came after 37 minutes of debate, discussion and public comments Tuesday about the revised development agreement, which the council first discussed on June 8 when it spent nearly four hours listening to presentations, public comments and deliberated the document.
The proposed development — known as the Bastrop 552 Development — would comprise 546 acres in Bastrop, west of Lovers Lane and the River Meadows subdivision and is bounded by the Colorado River on the project’s western edge. The development’s primary use will be a film studio but it will include a mixture of uses, such as recreation, studio space and other accommodations that serve the studio and its customers.
Residents who live near the proposed development have mobilized to oppose the project and have spoken out against it at three city meetings this month. They’ve raised concerns about the development’s possible impact to their quality of life, property values, drainage, the environment and wildlife, as well as potential increases in noise and light pollution and traffic.
When the council first discussed the development agreement on June 8, it directed staff to continue negotiating the agreement with the developer to incorporate more specific provisions and less vague language after residents spent hours during that meeting voicing concerns about the agreement and the project.
According to city documents, changes to the revised development agreement that the council approved Tuesday include requiring Bastrop Colorado Bend — the Texas-based company that will develop the project and that Butler manages — to submit a public frontage plan, which would detail sidewalk design, landscaping, street lighting, a perimeter fence and a perimeter road for the proposed project.
Other changes in the revised agreement include removing an exemption for lighting and requiring all lighting within the project to comply with city regulations as well as requiring the developer to make a reasonable effort to preserve and protect current trees and vegetation.
Assistant City Manager Trey Job stressed when speaking to the council on Tuesday that there are still several steps to go in the development process. The City Council would still need to approve changes to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, Future Land Use map and Master Transportation Plan and Street Grid map, in addition to approving the public frontage plan and negotiating an incentive agreement, among other steps, before the development gets the green light.
Job said he expects the council will likely discuss the project at least three more times.
The proposal
According to city documents, film studios will make up about 135 acres of the development, and accommodation space will fill about 40 acres.
The project will include about 220 acres for recreation, including event spaces, restaurants, a golf course, a working dude ranch and parks and greenbelts.
The remaining 151 acres in the development will be devoted to hybrid recreation-studio uses.
The main entertainment elements of the project will include a multi-faceted film studio, production facilities, sound stages, backlots, storage, an entertainment venue and other ancillary space.
The development is being spearheaded by Butler, the owner of Line 204 Studios, a Southern California-based independent studio and production rental company that rents equipment, sound stages and props.
The development is proposed to be completed in phases over six years, and will create more than 1,400 jobs over several years as well as 700 construction jobs, according to a presentation by Line 204 Studios. The private facility is expected to generate a $2 billion economic impact over 10 years, the presentation said.
Voluntary annexation
As part of the approved development agreement, Bastrop Colorado Bend will voluntarily annex the 546-acre property from the extraterritorial jurisdiction into Bastrop’s city limits before breaking ground.
The 45-year agreement includes the establishment of regulations — such as a perimeter fence — for the proposed development that otherwise wouldn’t apply to the project if it wasn’t annexed into the city and remained in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction where it would be regulated by the county, which lacks zoning authority.
Annexation will also allow the development to connect to the city’s water and wastewater lines near the edge of the city limits on Lovers Lane.
During a June 3 Bastrop Planning and Zoning Commission special meeting and the June 8 council meeting, Butler, who didn’t attend Tuesday’s council meeting, said building a perimeter fence around the property would be the first construction step.
Job told the council Tuesday the project will be subject to full city regulations and taxing authority once it’s annexed.
He also said the revised development agreement requires the developer to roll out drainage improvements, plan for fixes on Lovers Lane after a transportation impact analysis and make sure the primary access to the development is from a perimeter road instead of nearby Margies Way, which had been a concern for neighboring residents.
Job said during the Planning and Zoning meeting the overall traffic impact from the proposed development would be less than if about 1,200 low-density residential homes were built in the same area.
Residents left with concerns
While more than 20 residents spoke against the proposed development during a public hearing June 3 at the Planning and Zoning special meeting and more than 50 people registered to speak during the public hearing held June 8 during a City Council meeting, the in-person presence of concerned residents decreased Tuesday night, as only about 30 people were present at City Hall when the council discussed and approved the revised development agreement.
Only seven people signed up to speak Tuesday during public comments for the council’s development agreement agenda item.
The speakers Tuesday included Michele Anderson, a Bastrop resident and an organizer of residents opposed to the Bastrop 552 Development.
Anderson created a petition earlier this month that asked the city to reject the project in its entirety. When she presented the petition to the City Council on June 8 it had more than 500 signatures, and as of Tuesday night the petition had received more than 820 signatures.
Anderson, who told The Advertiser last week that she didn’t think the concerns of nearby residents were being adequately heard by local officials, told the council Tuesday that many people who live in the extraterritorial jurisdiction near the proposed project consider Bastrop their home and their concerns deserve the council’s attention.
“I know that I’m not your constituent, I know I don’t live in the city, I know I don’t pay city taxes and I shouldn’t worry whether you’re going to earn money or not,” Anderson said. “But whether you earn money or not, impacts me. It impacts my neighbors. This entire development impacts all of us.”
Among other longstanding concerns, Anderson specifically asked the council for clarification and details about the proposed perimeter fence and how effective it would be in guarding against noise pollution from the project.
Job said Tuesday that the council will have to approve the perimeter fence before it’s built and the development will be regulated by the city’s noise ordinance.
According to a statement released by the city of Bastrop on Wednesday, the proposed film studio project satisfies several of the City Council’s focus areas, including multi-modal mobility, economic vitality and fiscal responsibility.
Regulated development
During Tuesday’s meeting, several council members drew attention to the extra regulations that will apply to the proposed development after it’s voluntarily annexed into the city limits as required by the development agreement.
Council Member Dock Jackson, who pushed for revisions to be made to the development agreement during the council’s June 8 meeting, said nearby residents will be more protected if the proposed development has to abide by city regulations.
“I wanted to assure the citizens of the county that aren’t our constituents that we still care about them and we want what’s best for them,” Jackson said.
