Campelli v. Mansfield

Summary

The Supreme Court of Connecticut affirmed a judgment reinstating the forest land classification of the plaintiffs' 22.53-acre Mansfield property, holding that the town assessor lacked statutory authority to terminate the classification even though the property never met the twenty-five acre minimum because the certified forester had erroneously reported it as 25 acres. The court held that "such land" in § 12-504h (2) means the land described in the classification application—the Mansfield property itself—so the sale of the plaintiffs' separate Tolland parcel did not trigger termination. Under § 12-107d (f), as amended by P.A. 04-115, an assessor may deny an application only upon a change in use, and disputes with a certified forester's acreage findings must be appealed to the state forester, who holds exclusive corrective authority. Section 12-55 (b)'s general equalization mandate yields to the specific forest land statutes and does not authorize declassification.