2006 Massachusetts Code - Chapter 61A — Section 14. Sale for or conversion to residential or commercial use; notice of intent to city or town; option to purchase; assignment of option.

Section 14. Land which is valued, assessed and taxed on the basis of its agricultural or horticultural use under an application filed and approved pursuant to this chapter shall not be sold for or converted to residential, industrial or commercial use while so valued, assessed and taxed unless the city or town in which such land is located has been notified of intent to sell for or convert to such other use; provided, however, that the discontinuance of the use of such land for agricultural or horticultural purposes shall not be deemed a conversion. Specific use of land for a residence for the owner or a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, or brother or sister of the owner, or the surviving husband or wife of any deceased such relative, or for living quarters for any persons actively employed full time in the agricultural or horticultural use of such land, shall not be deemed to be a conversion for purposes of this section; and a certificate of the board of assessors, recorded with the registry of deeds, shall conclusively establish that a particular use is such a use. For a period of one hundred twenty days subsequent to such notification, said city or town shall have, in the case of an intended sale, a first refusal option to meet a bona fide offer to purchase said land, or, in the case of an intended conversion not involving sale, an option to purchase said land at full and fair market value to be determined by impartial appraisal. After a public hearing, said city or town may assign either of said options to a nonprofit conservation organization under such terms and conditions as the mayor or board of selectmen deem appropriate. Such assignment shall be for the purpose of continuing the agricultural or horticultural use of the major portion of the property subject to this assignment. Notice of said public hearing shall be given in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-three B of chapter thirty-nine. Such notice of intent shall be sent by the landowner via certified mail to the mayor and city council of a city, or to the board of selectmen of a town, to its board of assessors and to its planning board and conservation commission, if any, and said option period shall run from the day following the latest date of deposit of any of such notices in the United States mails. No sale or conversion of such land shall be consummated unless and until either said option period shall have expired or the landowner shall have been notified in writing by the mayor or board of selectmen of the city or town in question that said option will not be exercised. Such option may be exercised only by written notice signed by the mayor or board of selectmen, mailed to the landowner by certified mail at such address as may be specified in his notice of intention and recorded with the registry of deeds, within the option period. If either option has been assigned to a nonprofit conservation organization as provided in this section, said written notice shall state the name and address of said organization and the terms and conditions of said assignment. An affidavit by a notary public that he has so mailed such a notice of intent on behalf of a landowner shall conclusively establish the manner and time of the giving of such notice; and such an affidavit, and such a notice that the option will not be exercised, shall be recorded with the registry of deeds. Each such notice of intention, notice of exercise of the option and notice that the option will not be exercised shall contain the name of the record owner of the land and a description of the premises so to be sold or converted adequate for identification thereof; and each such affidavit by a notary public shall have attached to it a copy of the notice of intention to which it relates. Such notices of intention shall be deemed to have been duly mailed to the parties above specified if addressed to them in care of the town or city clerk; and in the case of notice to a city council or a board or commission, addressed to it as such entity. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable with respect to a mortgage foreclosure sale; but the holder of a mortgage shall, at least ninety days before a foreclosure sale, send written notice of the time and place of such sale to the parties and in the manner above provided in this section for notice of intent to sell or convert, and the giving of such notice may be established by an affidavit of a notary public as set forth above.