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development. These issues must be resolved before a reliable
comparison can be made.
Mr. Kelley valued the land zoned for exclusive farm use at
$400,000, based on an option retained by the seller to repurchase
that portion of the land. Mr. Pio testified that,
hypothetically, if a buyer and seller believed that the land was
worth $400,000, then $400,000 would be an appropriate value.
However, Mr. Pio did not believe the land was actually worth
$400,000. He concluded that it was worth $100,000, but did not
offer any support for his conclusion other than that he “happened
to be familiar with that property”. Because the parties to the
sale agreed to an option price of $400,000, we find that it is an
appropriate measure of value for the exclusive farm use portion
of comparable 2-11.
Mr. Kelley also reduced the sale price of comparable 2-11 by
$350,000 to account for an option exercised by the seller to
repurchase a 1.59-acre pad site on the property.12 Mr. Pio did
not make the adjustment because he was not aware that the seller
retained and exercised the option. However, he testified that it
would be appropriate to reduce the sale price by $350,000, so
long as the acreage was also reduced by 1.59 acres.
12 A pad site is a building site within a shopping area
that is ready for construction of a retail establishment and is
usually surrounded by customer parking areas.
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