Portsmouth Parcel Added to Enterprize Zone

Several acres of land in Portsmouth has been added to the town’s Enterprize Zone after legislation was passed and signed into law by Governor Lincoln Chafee recently.

The land, located at the northern end of East Main Road, has existing commercial businesses and open developable commercial land and local leaders are hoping the designation will help spur economic activity.

The town’s Director of Business Development, William Clark, said the zone contains about a half-dozen retail businesses and five acres that could be developed in the future. And it sits adjacent to other block groups that have historically comprised the Portsmouth/Tiverton Enterprize Zone since its inception in 1995.

He said the new tract abuts the zone that was established in the late 1990s and that not including that acreage at that time was an oversight when the area was mapped. The existing enterprise zone, he said, is about three or four times the size of the newly-added tract and extends from East Main Road down to the area of the marine businesses.

The tract contains portions of East Main Road and Route 138 and the Town Council threw its support behind the measure in February.

Rep. Dennis M. Canario (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth, Little Compton, Tiverton) sponsored legislation in the House adding the tract to the state Enterprise Zone program.

“The Enterprise Zone program is a great tool for the community to promote business growth and development,” said Representative Canario. “Businesses in the existing Portsmouth zone are already benefiting from the program, and adding this acreage to the zone increases the town’s opportunities to grow our economy.”

Under the enterprise zone program, businesses opening and operating within a zone can, depending on the level of employment, qualify for tax credits for new jobs creation. Other tax-saving options are available under the program for owners of member businesses who reside within the same zone.

A companion Senate bill that also passed the General Assembly and was signed by the governor, 2014-S 2343, was introduced by Sen. Christopher Scott Ottiano (R-Dist. 11, Portsmouth, Bristol).