Select Board agrees to honor prior valuation for River Run phase 2; assesses land‑use change tax

Adrienne Summers of Whitney Consulting told the Brentwood Select Board she recommends the town honor an earlier agreement between the previous assessor and River Run’s developer that treated each phase‑2 site as having a $50,000 land value. Summers said phase 2 comprises 30 sites; 16 are under construction and the remaining 14 are site‑prepped. She boxed the market valuation at $1,500,000 for roughly 36 acres and said the statutory 10% land‑use‑change tax would be $150,000.

Board members asked whether the agreement is documented; Summers said she received an email from the developer to the prior assessor and will circulate that correspondence to the board. Summers emphasized that phase 3 (19 sites) remains in current use because road work and other disturbances have not yet occurred and therefore must be assessed separately under the RSA governing current‑use changes.

Several select board members said the town may be constrained by ‘detrimental reliance’ on the prior assessor’s arrangement for phases 1 and 2 and moved to honor that earlier valuation for those phases while reserving the town’s rights on phase 3. The board voted to approve a motion to accept the phase‑1/phase‑2 valuation and to transmit the documentation and final land‑use‑change tax authorization at the next meeting.

The assessor will prepare the formal authorization and warrant for signatures; Summers said the developer will receive a bill once paperwork is finalized.