A Fight Over Highest and Best Use
Without knowing it, property owners that maintained an attractive mountaintop in Vermont laid claim to the opportunity to have a value for use paid for. Now, the owners have lost and will have to take the issue to an appellate court if their claims have been preserved!
The PSB accepted the VELCO appraisal of the whole 10 acre property, of which only about an acre or so is level. The appraisal valued the property at $425,000 and calculated that VELCO would take a quarter of an acre, worth $4,500. The appraisal also calculated the value of the property would be diminished by $21,750 once the new, 80, higher frequency tower was in place. Based on these calculations, the PSB awarded the artists just total of $25,750 in compensation, payable on or before August 13. They plan to appeal.
