Town of Billerica v. Card
Town of Billerica v. Card
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, the town of Billerica (town), sought
Background. Card owns 50.78 acres of land on Nashua Road in the town; forty-nine of those acres were classified as agricultural land pursuant to G. L. c. 61 A, entitling Card to a reduced tax assessment on the acres so classified. Card informed the town by letter dated December 30, 1999 (1999 letter), that he wished to remove 15.85 acres from c. 61A classification. He asserts that he delivered the 1999 letter by hand to the town’s board of selectmen and mailed copies to the board of assessors, the planning board, and the conservation commission. It is undisputed that Card failed to send the 1999 letter by certified mail as required by G. L. c. 61A, § 14.
Richard Scanlon, the town’s principal assessor, responded in a letter dated January 6, 2000, requesting that Card provide an impartial appraisal of the property and stating his opinion that, without such an appraisal, the letter was insufficient to constitute proper notice under the law. In a January 6, 2000, meeting with Scanlon, Card discussed a possible resubmission of the 1999 letter in order to comply with G. L. c. 61A. He subsequently sent to all relevant parties, via certified mail, a letter dated June 23, 2000 (2000 letter), in which he requested to remove 14.51 acres from c. 61A classification
The town sought declaratory relief to determine the validity of the 2000 letter; there followed a flurry of counterclaims and amended counterclaims, a motion to dismiss, and the town’s motion for summary judgment. The trial judge ordered summary judgment for the town, concluding that (1) the 1999 letter was not valid; (2) the 2000 letter was valid; (3) Card did not have the right to withdraw the 2000 letter; and (4) the town’s option to purchase was valid and properly exercised.
Discussion. On appeal, Card argues that the judge erred in ruling that the 1999 letter was invalid, and that Card did not have the right to withdraw the 2000 letter. In addition, he claims that the town was unjustly enriched when permitted to purchase the property for less than its full and fair market value.
a. The statutory requirements of G. L. c. 61A, § 14.
b. The 1999 letter. Card contends that the 1999 letter, received by all relevant parties in the first week of January, 2000, constituted valid notice; the town’s failure to exercise its option within 120 days, he maintains, extinguished that right.
“[P]ublic interest requires ‘strict enforcement of the statutory notice requirements.’ ” Calnan v. Planning Bd. of Lynn, 63 Mass. App. Ct. 384, 390 (2005), quoting from O’Blenes v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Lynn, 397 Mass. 555, 558 (1986). We are to construe a statute so that effect is given to all of its provisions. Adoption of Marlene, 443 Mass. 494, 500 (2005). See Massachusetts Bay Transp. Authy. v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Authy. Retirement Bd., 397 Mass. 734, 740 (1986) (“It is the function of this court to construe [G. L. c. 61A, § 14], as written, and an event or contingency for which no provision has been made does not justify judicial legislation”).
General Laws c. 61A was enacted “to preserve and protect the agricultural use of land ... by requiring notice.” Sudbury v. Scott, 439 Mass. at 301. “Where, as here, the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it is conclusive as to the intent of the Legislature.” Ciardi v. F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd., 436 Mass. 53, 60-61 (2002). The statutory requirement that notice be sent by certified mail ensures that all parties will receive a notice of intent reflecting a readily ascertainable date of mailing, which sets the option period running. To construe the statute otherwise would permit a degree of imprecision as to the start of the 120-day option period, which the Legislature deemed undesirable. See Board of Appeals of Hanover v. Housing Appeals Comm., 363 Mass. 339, 355 (1973).
c. The 2000 letter. Card argues that he had a statutory right to withdraw the 2000 notice of intent. As support therefor he points to G. L. c. 61 A, § 6, which states that an application seeking c. 61A classification may not be withdrawn; had the Legislature intended such a prohibition regarding notice of intent to sell or convert, Card contends, it would have inserted similar language in § 14. In view of the different functions served by the two sections, we are not persuaded that Card is correct.
d. Unjust enrichment. Card claims that the town would be unjustly enriched were it to be permitted to purchase the property for the May, 2000, appraisal value of $405,000, despite the fact that it was assessed by the town on July 7, 2000, at $540,000, and later appraised at Card’s behest in April, 2001, at $700,000.
Section 14 of G. L. c. 61A provides, in pertinent part, that “[f]or a period of one hundred twenty days subsequent to such
The two situations are quite different with respect to valuation. When there is an intended sale to a bona fide purchaser, the purchase price is disclosed at the time notice to the town is given; it is that price that the town must decide whether it will meet. Where there is to be a conversion, on the other hand, all that the statute requires is that the parcel intended for conversion be identified; the town has the option then to purchase it for “full and fair market value to be determined by impartial appraisal.” The statute is silent as to when the appraisal is to be made — whether at the time of giving notice, during the 120-day window within which the town can exercise its options or, for that matter, at some later date.
We take the “to be determined” language in G. L. c. 61 A, § 14, as suggesting that the appraisal may be done following the notice. Hence, the notice itself need not contain an appraisal. Mindful, however, that the statute must be construed “in a manner that will not frustrate or impair a town’s right of first refusal,” Franklin v. Wyllie, 443 Mass. at 196, it seems plain that once in receipt of the notice, the town cannot be expected to decide whether it is in a position to exercise its option to buy the subject land without first knowing what it will have to pay to do so. See Roy v. George W. Greene, Inc., 404 Mass. 67, 69-71 (1989). Hence, we think the sensible reading of § 14 is that the impartial appraisal envisioned by the statute will ordinarily be obtained well within the 120-day option period. See Franklin v. Wyllie, supra.
When Card sent the 2000 letter giving notice of the intended conversion, he included an appraisal valuing the land at $405,000.
Judgment affirmed.
There is no indication in the record before us as to why Card sought in the 2000 letter to convert 14.51 acres as opposed to the 15.85 acres he had sought to convert in the 1999 letter.
“Roll-back taxes are the difference between the property taxes actually paid under c. 61A and what would have been paid if the land had been assessed outside of c. 61A for the current tax year and up to the four preceding tax years.” Sudbury v. Scott, 439 Mass. 288, 295 n.8 (2003).
General Laws c. 61A, § 14, as amended through St. 1987, c. 95, § 3, provides, in pertinent part:
“Land which is valued, assessed and taxed on the basis of its agricultural or horticultural use under an application filed and approved pursuant to this chapter shall not be sold for or converted to residential, industrial or commercial use while so valued, assessed and taxed unless the city or town in which such land is located has been notified of intent to sell for or convert to such other use; provided, however, that the discontinuance of the use of such land for agricultural or horticultural purposes shall not be deemed a conversion. . . . For a*667 period of one hundred twenty days subsequent to such notification, said city or town shall have, in the case of an intended sale, a first refusal option to meet a bona fide offer to purchase said land, or, in the case of an intended conversion not involving sale, an option to purchase said land at full and fair market value to be determined by impartial appraisal. . . . Such notice of intent shall be sent by the landowner via certified mail to the mayor and city council of a city, or to the board of selectmen of a town, to its board of assessors and to its planning board and conservation commission, if any, and said option period shall run from the day following the latest date of deposit of any of such notices in the United States mails. No sale or conversion of such land shall be consummated unless and until either said option period shall have expired or the landowner shall have been notified in writing by the mayor or board of selectmen of the city or town in question that said option will not be exercised. Such option may be exercised only by written notice signed by the mayor or board of selectmen, mailed to the landowner by certified mail at such address as may be specified in his notice of intention and recorded with the registry of deeds, within the option period.”
Card further argues that the town erroneously required the notice to include an appraisal, a mistake for which he should not be held responsible. In its motion for summary judgment, the town maintained that the 1999 letter was insufficient notice because it did not include an appraisal. There is no statutory requirement, however, that an appraisal exist at the time of the notice of intent. See discussion, infra.
Card’s argument that he was led to believe by Correnti that he could withdraw his notice is of little moment. Members of a municipal board cannot act separately as individuals, and Correnti’s opinion accordingly did not reflect a formal decision by, or binding upon, the board of selectmen. Carbone, Inc. v. Kelly, 289 Mass. 602, 605 (1935).
Card does not suggest that the 2000 appraisal was anything other than impartial; he contends only that the town would be unjustly enriched should it acquire the land at $405,000. Card also claims that the town knew or should have known that the 2000 appraisal was low when it sent its July 7, 2000, tax
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.