HOPKINTON — For the past month, the proposed hotel and film studio off Route 95’s Exit 2 area has been the buzz around town.

After several failed pitches over the years, a California developer with Rhode Island ties in partnership with two Rhode Island-based developers is proposing to build a studio complex — the first in the state, bringing full circle the state’s plans to lure the movie industry into Rhode Island.

Last night residents got their first official chance at meeting the project team and hearing their sales pitch.

The top concerns — mainly from residents at the two condominium complexes closest to the development, Lindhbrook Green Condo and North Gardens at Lindhbrook — were water availability, environmental impact and social changes.

“This is essentially an industrial park within itself,” said Carolyn Rizzo, saying she was especially concerned with water and the proposed welding site.

“I moved to Hopkinton and sucked it up — paying higher taxes for the quietness and” pristine land.

Herbert and Allison Parkes, who moved to Hopkinton from Montclair, N.J., also lamented losing some of the country feeling — along with their unofficial neighbors: deer, rabbits, wild turkeys, birds — and the views.

To get to their house, on Pond View Drive, the Parkes now take the first entrance to Palmer Circle, by Old Deport Road, and drive around to take in the rural view.

“Of course, we won’t be using that road anymore,” Allison Parkes said, noting that the proposed development would dead-end Palmer Circle on both sides, forcing the Parkes to take the second entrance to Palmer Circle, at the end of the Lindhbrook Golf Course.

“There goes our access,” Herbert Parkes added.

The Parkes said they understood the town was looking for economic development — plans to develop the Exit 1 area are also under way — but they questioned the impact and the way it’s being done.

“You really have to wonder if the city is taking on more than it can chew,” Allison Parkes said.

“They are not looking at the cost.”

Others, such as Marvin and Lisa Strand, who live about a half-mile away from the proposed develoment on Evans Lane, say they support the project.

“It’s a good type of business. It’s not bringing in a lot of school kids. It’s clean. Why not?” Marvin Strand said.

“The way they are presenting the project, it shouldn’t come near us or affect us,” said Troy Porter, who lives at the North Gardens at the Lindhbrook condo complex.

Porter reasoned that if all goes well, he might to make a profit on his residence if he were to sell it.

The development, to be known as Rhode Island Studios, would include a four-story, 150-room hotel; eight sound stages totaling 155,000 to 225,000 square feet; about 75,000 square feet of production offices adjacent to the sound stages; 10,000 square feet of executive offices; about 75,000 square feet of mill and welding space for set and sound-stage creation; a back-lot area for outdoor sets; trailers and parking; and additional buildings for cafeterias and storage.

The project requires a 20-percent state tax credit on costs associated with construction — roughly $15 million of the estimated $75-million construction cost.

State legislators are considering a bill — similar to the existing motion-picture production tax credit — that would give film studios the 20-percent transferrable credit.

The developers — Hal Katersky and Dana Arnold of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Pacifica Ventures, and Ralph Palumbo and Anthony DelVicario of Providence-based Halden Acquisition Group — would file plans with the town once the legislature approves the bill.

Tom Moses, one of the project’s lawyers, estimated that could happen as soon as late May or early June.

Katersky has said he also intends to apply for tax-increment financing in Hopkinton, which would give him a five-year phase-in of property taxes.

The development could also tap into the state’s 25-percent film-production credit.

marmenta@projo.com