Tax question shines light on Blackberry Commons

NORTH CANAAN — A request for a reduction in property taxes is raising questions about the future of Blackberry River Commons.

Residents and town officials had already expressed concerns, as only one of 21 planned 55-and-older community homes has been sold there in three years.

Board of Assessment Appeals Chairman David Jacquier and member Richard Crane spoke at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on March 17. Jacquier said the developer had been given a 20-percent reduction in the property assessment two years ago, and said the board was not inclined to give another reduction.

“We’re trying to keep it fair to the property owners around there and the rest of the town,� Jacquier said. “We’re not inclined to give them another decrease.�

When the property is 80 percent occupied, Jacquier said, a homeowners association will take effect. Taxes could revert back at that time, according to the developer.

He asked how Planning and Zoning intended for the property to be taxed when it issued a special permit. But it was not a question commissioners could answer. Taxation is determined by the commission only indirectly, by how land is zoned. But in the case of a residential development, they have no leeway.

Meanwhile, a check of land records at Town Hall does not show the tax reduction described by Jacquier.

According to the assessor’s office and records there, an adjustment was made that year, notated as a 25-percent influence factor, after the former Peppe home was demolished. That change was effective as of the October 2009 grand list.

Jacquier did not return a call from The Journal seeking clarification. Neither did William Weingart of Blackberry River Commons LLC, or Dave Taylor, who had been the listing agent with Elyse Harney Real Estate. There are no real estate signs at the property and no listings found online or in local real estate publications. Workers at Town Hall say they have been getting requests for months now about how to find out about buying there.

 These developments have fueled the fire of concerns raised as long ago as 2006 about the future of the project.

While the proposed project was wending its way through the planning stages, the price of construction materials rose rapidly, driven mainly by the rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. Homes were redesigned to be a little smaller, but prices were still much higher than then-property owner David Soper had planned for.

North Canaan residents said the prices were simply too high for them and noted that they were high in comparison to  other homes here.

Soper and his wife, Nancy, sold the property to Weingart’s company in May 2006 for $700,000, less than a month after the Planning and Zoning Commission granted a special permit.

When three model homes were built and the development was put on the market about a year later, they were listed for $358,000 to $378,000.

Buyers showing interest, according to the realtor at the time, were from out of town.

A home was sold in October, 2008 for $410,000.

The market value and assessment on the 10.25-acre property was reduced by 16 percent between the 2002 revaluation and a “mini-reval� done in 2004.

But the 2007 revaluation, reflecting the development rights and construction there, as well as market influences, jumped to 2.5 times the former values.

The property’s market value is listed by the assessor as $1,274,990. It is taxed at 70 percent of that, or $892,510. Taxes of $18,478 for the town and $1,539 for the Canaan Fire District are current.

The lone occupied home is taxed at $5,225 and $260.

Directors of the Canaan Fire District, which operates the sewage treatment plant adjacent to the property, initially objected to the proposed development, citing the potential need for land for a plant expansion, as well as issues of noise and odors that might cause neighbors to object.

The easements and restrictions run with the land deed, and are not affected by ownership.

In the end, they agreed to easements that allow electrical service and access to the plant, the latter over a private road leading into the development. A deed restriction requires at least 2 acres of open space, leaving land available for sale to the fire district should it be needed, and a buffer between the plant and homesites.

There are two private roads in Blackberry River Commons. According to the conditions of the permit, they may be maintained if the town so chooses, but the town is not obligated. The only inhabited home is at the end of the second road.

Anthony Nania, an attorney and warden of the fire district, noted that the property, while it may have been correctly stated as a single piece of assessed property, is not taxed as a condominium. It is a “planned unit development;� that dictates that the land that comprises the footprint of a home be owned, and taxes paid by the homeowner.

The development rights at Blackberry River Commons are good for 15 years.