Brentwood board pauses River Run land‑use‑change tax decision, asks legal counsel and to invite developer

The Brentwood Select Board on Dec. 30 moved to reconsider a prior decision about the land‑use‑change tax for phase 2 of the River Run development at 41A Mill Road and directed staff to obtain a legal opinion before taking final action.

Adrienne Summers, the town's contract assessor, presented an assessment for 36.62 acres of land coming out of current use with a raw-land market value of $1,500,000; she calculated a 10% land‑use‑change tax of $150,000. Board members said the developer had previously described a unit-release figure to the town, and one document read into the record showed the developer (Joe Falzone) had said, in an August 2023 email, that "Phase 2 and 3 will have the same terms for unit release in the amount of $5,000 and at some future date, if there are substantial market value changes, the release figure may have to be revisited." The board debated whether that email — and communications by the prior assessor — constituted a binding agreement.

Several board members said that the developer's apparent per‑unit figures and local revaluation data suggested higher residual/retail values for units in the development (board members discussed revaluation figures around $250,000 per unit), and they worried that accepting the lower figure would forgo significant town revenue. "That doesn't seem fair to the taxpayers that a developer gets such a special deal," one member said during the discussion.

Members agreed they needed a formal legal review to determine whether the prior assessor's communications created a binding obligation and whether the town must follow the per‑unit release already discussed. The board voted to reconsider its Dec. 9 action on the phase‑2 terms and to table final approval pending counsel's opinion and a future discussion with the developer. Assessor Summers said staff would also review property and permit records to confirm when roads or infrastructure triggered current‑use removal.

Next steps include obtaining a written opinion from town counsel and convening a follow‑up meeting with the developer only after legal counsel has reviewed the prior communications and the factual record. The board set an internal target of April 1, 2026, as a timeline reference for related assessments and follow-up action.