TOWN OF MONTEREY
Board of Assessors
435 Main Rd., P.O. Box 448
Monterey MA 01245
Meeting Minutes, October 18 and 19, 2006
The meeting was called to order by Stan Ross: Bob Lazzarini and Don Clauson were present. Bob Gauthier was absent.
Modifiers For Land Areas: The board continued its discussion of Modifiers of the land value assessment. Bob Lazzarini reported that he had met with the Fire Chief for about a half hour and discussed the problems of topography in assessing. In particular, they discussed whether property topography seriously affects accessibility of emergency vehicles. The Chief was of the opinion that the Monterey Fire Dept. could give good and appropriate responses to fires on properties fronting on all public roads and on most private roads. He felt that there is a problem with some private roads, but only because the owners of the roads do not clear the snow and sand them in winter. He also noted that the vegetation along some private roads and driveways is not cut back far enough to
allow his trucks to pass. The Chief was of the opinion that “Topography” of the land was not the problem, it was that the owners of some private roads and some properties don’t maintain the private roads and their driveways properly.
The Board discussed the modifiers “Unbld” (un-buildable), “Wet” (wetlands) and “Restr” (restricted). The concensus was that these modifiers should be reserved for cases where the size or physical properties or legal deed (conservation restriction) of the parcels prevents parcels from being used as building sites. The Board was unanimous in its belief that the assessed value of these parcels should be related somehow to the value of excess acreage (acreage in excess of that required for a building site) charged in the same neighborhood. They recommended setting the maximum reduction in the rate for permanently non-buildable acreage at 75% the value used for excess acreage in each neighborhood.
· Unbld -- The Board recognized that parcels once classified as “UNBLD” may become buildable over time because of changes in Title 5 regulations, advances in subsurface septic waste disposal system design, or the availability of off-site water supplies. The Board rejected by a 2 to 1 vote a proposal to create a “Potentially Buildable” classification for borderline cases and opted instead to deal with the problem by periodically reviewing the UNBLD parcels and changing their classification when appropriate.
· Wet -- Since land areas meeting the EPA’s definition of “wetlands” cannot be built upon, those parcels should be assessed the same as the UNBLD parcels if there is no building site elsewhere on the parcel. However “wet” parcels that also have dry areas that can serve as a building site will be assessed by estimating the size of the wet and the dry areas and applying the appropriate classifications and modifiers to each and reporting the sum of two as the assessed value. Since driveways and paths can be constructed in “wetlands”, the presence of wetlands does not reduce the accessibility of the parcel and should not lead
to a modification of the road frontage or water frontage assessments.
· Restr -- The use or development of many Monterey properties is restricted. Most frequently this is due to the existence of one of many types of “conservation restrictions” on the deed of the property that prevents erecting certain types of buildings. Some of the restrictions are virtually irreversible while others are reversible and the right to develop the land can be regained. The Board or the Assistant Assessor will determine the level of this adjustment and whether it should be applied to the building site, the excess acreage or both on a case-by-case basis. The Board also decided that, in keeping with previous policy, Restricted land
can be put in Chapter 61, 61A, or 61B and obtain a further reduction in assessed value.
Many Monterey properties have easements recorded on their deeds that allow other parties to access portions of their land or restrict the use of portions of their property to various extents. The Board or the Assistant Assessor will determine the severity of these infringements and whether they involve the building site or the excess acres. The determined degree of infringement will be compensated for by a reduction in the land assessment up to 50%.
The Board was uncertain about several aspects of the Modifier “Access”. All thought that it should be applied to “landlocked” properties. The comment was made that there is a Commonwealth law that stipulates that a man can not be denied access to his property. Bob Lazzarini said he would check it out with the Town Counsel.
The meeting was adjourned.
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