Dooley Real Estate
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ST JOHN'S PEAK AT KENT PAST AND PRESENT by Paul Dooley

The Auction and After
On a rainy September weekend in 2004, the marketing of lots in northwestern Connecticut was raised to a new level. After having negotiated with several buyers for the project, negotiations which involved several earnest and entirely reputable individuals whose vision for the project matched the partners’ (and which also included a few whose motives both wasted time and eroded our faith in human nature), the Partnership was approached by American Landsource – owned by Michael Patten who has acquired a reputation for creating and marketing scenic parcels in some of the most desirable sections of the country. A deal was quickly negotiated and American Landsource set out to retest the lots and groom them for marketing. Staging the property (not at all unlike staging a house for showing) and employing a massive marketing campaign, American Landsource sold the bulk of the lots in one weekend following up with another weekend auction and disposing of the remainder quickly by means of individual sales. The operation was entirely professional and an eye-opener for those of us who have been selling land for over a quarter of a century. The prices ranged from $149,900 to $680,000 and averaged $279,500. The gross sales were just under $14 million.

Since the auction a number of very attractive homes have been built, fulfilling the vision John Marvin, Bill Davies and Roger Frechette had when they embarked on the project in 1987. However, ten of the fifty lots are now for sale at prices ranging from $199,000 to $395,000, suggesting that at least some of the auction buyers were investors, not users. It seems clear that St. John’s Peak at Kent is in the process of becoming an attractive and solid neighborhood. But it may take some time to absorb the lots now being offered for resale and for the market to find a trading range. One factor which will have a significant bearing on lot resales and future construction is the question of road maintenance. Are the paved primary roads eligible for acceptance as town roads? Or will the on-going costs of maintenance be borne by the Association? I’ll try to answer:

The Roads: Town or Private?
It’s a fact of life that memory fades with the passage of time. Eighteen years have passed from the date of the subdivision approval to today. The Planning and Zoning Commission has entirely new members and the Board of Selectmen has changed several times. What was understood and assumed in 1989 becomes harder to reconstruct now.

Here are the facts and the equities as I see them: The subdivision was approved, indeed it couldn’t have been approved otherwise, on the understanding that the principal, paved roads would be conveyed to the Town of Kent. Indeed, Mount Mauwee Lane, Weantinoge Lane, Stonewall Lane, Old Paddock Lane, and Yuza Mini Lane would not have met the Subdivision Regulations if they did not intersect with public highways. Approval, then, was contingent upon conveyance of the paved roads to the Town. The approved map explicitly notes that Gorham and Old Homestead shall be “conveyed to the Town of Kent for use as a public highway(s)". It further notes that the approval granted was contingent upon all of the conditions set forth being met. In 2002, the Commission and the Selectmen released the final bonds held for the completion of the project, acknowledging that the conditions of approval had been satisfied. It remains only for Gorham and Old Homestead to be conveyed to the Town to complete the compact made in 1989.

I’ve become aware that the Association has petitioned the Town and has encountered some resistance to the idea of the Town’s assumption of responsibility. I’m also aware that other subdivisions have proposed Town acceptance of their private roads (Workbench and Stone Fences come to mind). The difference between these subdivisions and St. John’s Peak can be found in the subdivision maps and archives. It is only when the approval of a subdivision plan is clearly contingent upon conveyance of the roads (as it was also in the case of Saddle Ridge) that acceptance is appropriate. When acceptance of the roads is part of the original design and the conditions imposed by the Town, then it becomes an obligation.

If any of this brief discussion of St. John’s Peak at Kent is of interest, or if it raises questions that it doesn’t answer, please feel free to call or use our contact page. I’d be happy to continue the conversation.

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