The Town of Hubbardston Chapter 61/Chapter Land Board voted to grant a Chapter 61 exemption to applicant Alan Prentiss for the current calendar year only and directed staff to send a formal letter warning that future eligibility will require compliance with town rules and Massachusetts law.

The move followed discussion of two Chapter 61 applications presented at the meeting: an application for Lehi Tatton and an application for Alan Prentiss. Board staff recommended partial approval for the Tatton application — excluding a house lot — and reported technical defects in the Prentiss application tied to parcel ownership and acreage calculations.

Why it matters: Chapter 61 (chapter land) status confers a property tax benefit for qualifying forest, agricultural or recreational land. The board’s decision affects eligibility and tax treatment for the parcels involved and sets a precedent for how the board will treat long-running exemptions that staff now regard as inconsistent with current ownership records.

Board discussion and findings
Board staff told members that the Tatton application could be approved in part, with 47.75 acres accepted into chapter land after excluding the house lot. Staff recommended the board sign the partial approval so the eligible acreage could be recorded.

The longer debate focused on Prentiss’s application. Staff reported that the two parcels listed in the application (parcel 9118 at 3.05 acres and parcel 9119 at 3.30 acres) amount to 4.59 acres of eligible chapter land after excluding a 1.83-acre house lot. Because the town’s chapter land rules require at least five acres under the same ownership to qualify, staff said the application did not meet the minimum acreage requirement if evaluated strictly on the parcels shown in the application.

Board members discussed whether Prentiss’s interest in a larger, 34-acre parcel held by five owners could make up the shortfall. Legal and staff guidance presented at the meeting said the town evaluates ownership as recorded on deeds; land held by a trust or recorded in different names does not automatically merge for Chapter 61 eligibility unless the deeds show matching ownership. Staff cited prior board practice of evaluating each application against the parcels and ownership actually applied for, not hypothetical or informal ownership arrangements.

Options the board considered included denying the application, granting an extension to allow the parties to reorganize deeds or sell an acre to Prentiss, or granting a limited exemption for one year with conditions. Several board members noted Mr. Prentiss had received the benefit for many years and that the file contains prior approvals dating back more than a decade.

Motion and direction
A board member moved to grant the exemption for the current year only and to send a letter making clear this would be the final year without the parcel conforming to the town’s rules and Massachusetts law going forward. The board approved the motion. The transcript records affirmative votes but does not provide a roll-call of members by name; the board treated the vote as an approval and staff said they would mark the application as granted for the current year and draft the warning letter requested by the board.

On outstanding applications, staff reported 45 total Chapter 61 applications had been processed this cycle and about 10 had not yet been filed. The board directed staff to send one certified letter to nonfilers with a 30-day deadline to respond and to post a permanent reminder on the town website that the board may not send reminder letters every year. Board members said that if a property owner does not return the certified letter or does not apply by the deadline, the owner should be removed from chapter land according to the process outlined by staff.

Lehi Tatton application
Staff recommended partial approval of the Tatton application to reflect 47.75 acres eligible after excluding a house lot and said the board could sign the approval to record the acreage.

Next steps and logistics
Staff will prepare the one-year exemption/grant letter for Prentiss that documents the board’s conditions and prepare certified notices and a website posting for the nonfilers with a 30-day response period. The board set a tentative next meeting for June 18 at 6 p.m. and discussed whether to hold an executive session for matters requiring confidentiality.

Quotes
"This is only for this year," a board member said when proposing the limited exemption and the warning letter to the property owner.

Ending
Staff said they will prepare the signed approvals and the requested certified letters. The board’s decisions will be reflected in the town records and in letters to the affected property owners.