Albemarle BOE affirms two Route 29 assessments despite owners plea over sewer capacity

The Albemarle County Board of Equalization on Monday affirmed the county assessors 2025 assessments for two Route 29 parcels after the property owner argued the lots cannot be developed until a sewer line is completed.

The owner, represented at the hearing, told the board the parcels "can't be developed" and said, "I can't sell the property. I can't do anything with the property. In my eyes, it's not worth anything." The owner said the parcels have been effectively unusable for at least five years while the utility project remains incomplete.

Peter Lynch, County Assessor, described how the assessor's office adjusts developable-land values to reflect the time before development can occur. "We value this property as developable land," Lynch said, and when utilities such as a sewer line are not yet available the office applies a downward adjustment to reflect the time-value and delay to development. He said the office used a 46% discount this year, down from a 56% reduction applied last year, because the scheduled construction date is one year closer than previously projected.

The owner said the countys schedule has not meaningfully advanced and therefore the owner disputed the smaller discount. The owner also described efforts made on his end to reduce sewer flows and to obtain easements while saying the service authority has not completed the project and that the property has produced no income in the interim.

Board members discussed whether the sewer authority had changed its published schedule. Lynch said he had not been told the schedule was pushed further out than what was previously discussed and that the assessor's recalculation reflected the parcel being one year closer to the authoritys planned timeline.

The board voted to affirm the assessor's 2025 assessment for application number 25 at $2,479,500 and application number 26 at $851,300. Both motions carried with recorded abstentions; the board noted it will accept formal schedule updates from the service authority and adjust future assessments if the utilitys official timeline changes.

The hearing record shows the value adjustments were made under the assessors practice of applying a development-timing discount to otherwise developable land. Board members noted that formal notifications from the service authority about schedule changes would prompt reconsideration without the owner having to reappear.

The board moved next to unrelated items after concluding the two Route 29 appeals.