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Owner says 1884 section, partial AC and lot constraints were misclassified in town valuation
Summary
A presenter appealing the 2025 valuation for 34 Harbor Road told Fairfield’s appeals board the property was incorrectly classified as fully modernized and that land-shape, parking limits and partial HVAC should reduce the town’s land and structure adjustments.
A homeowner’s representative told the Fairfield Board of Assessment Appeals that the town’s 2025 valuation for a Harbor Road property treats a mixed-age (1884 core with modern additions) house as fully modernized, overstating value.
The presenter told the board the assessor’s property card lists wood clapboard and full central air, but the house is largely vinyl-clad and has only partial forced‑air/second‑floor conditioning. The representative described three older bathrooms, an unfinished and partly dirt‑floored basement, a steep original staircase that reduces usable floor area, and low-ceiling rooms in the 1884 portion — all items they called “functional obsolescence” that reduce marketability compared with modernized peers.
On land valuation, the presenter said the assessor used a .9 shape adjustment (10%) but that the parcel is a narrow wedge (about 0.22 acres) with a sloping rear yard and effectively no on‑site parking; the rep argued the standard adjustment fails to capture site constraints. They provided three market comparables showing larger lots, garages and full AC and asked the board to account for both structural and external obsolescence.
Hearing officer Adele Josephitz acknowledged the materials and said she would present the case at the board’s deliberations; appellants will receive a written decision after the board meets. The board did not act during the hearing.
