98 N.Y.S. 1080 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1906
In the year 1902 the relator was the owner of over 32,000 acres of land of which over 18,000 acres were in the town of Colton and , 14,000; acres in the adjoining town of Piercefield, both,of said towns being in the county of St. Lawrence. This land constituted a solid and contiguous tract nearly rectangular in shape and that portion thereof which is within the town of Colton is about six miles' in one direction and four and one-half miles in the other direction. Ponds, lakes, streams, mountains and valleys intersperse the entire tract. The relator’s residence was on that portion of the land situated in the town of Piercefield at a place called Horseshoe on the western shore of Horseshoe Lake. From this latter place the relator had constructed three narrow-gauge railroads extending to various points of his large domain. ' At this place also he had,buildings of various kinds including a house for his employees, a blacksmith shop where a-blacksmith and helper were constantly engaged, a plant for generating electricity, a stable where horses and cows were kept, an engine house for the locomotives used by him on his narrow-gauge roads,- storehouses and buildings used in the manufacture of maple sugar, and boathouses. At the eastern end of Horseshoe lake in Piercefield. was an extensive plant for reducing maple sap to syrup and in close proximity thereto was a maple wood where about 15,000 trees were tapped annually. On another lake in Piercefield known as Big Trout lake was a hunting camp where a man lived constantly. • About'five miles from the relator’s residence, and connected therewith by' a good tiirnpike road, was Camp Marian situated on a lake of the same name in about the center of the Colton tract. Here was a house occupied by the employees of the relator; a stable and barn like other farm buildings in the town; about: fifteen small buildings used by the. relator, his family and guests in summer; a large office or administration building; a large . two-story structure used for dances and other social functions, and a boathouse. At different places on the tract in Colton were two other large structures provided with apparatus for evaporating maple sap, a process in the manufacture of sugar; and aboiit each structure was a maple wood, each covering an area of about one and 'a half miles; and each containing ■about 15,000 trees; which-were cultivated in such a way as to yield the maximum- of productive
The respondents, assessors of the town of Colton, in 1902 assessed that part of said land, consisting of over 18,000 acres, situated in said town of Colton as non-resident lands, and-it is such action on their part which constitutes the" grievance of the relator, he claiming that all of the 32,000 acres should be assessed in the town of Piercefield, where he resides. This contention of the relator involves a-construction of sections 9 and 10 of the Tax Law as amended in 1902.
The. judgment should be affirmed, with costs.
Judgment unanimously affirmed; witli costs; Kellogg, J., not sitting.
See Laws of 1896, chap. 908, §§ 9,. 10, as respectively amd. by Laws of 1902, chaps. 171, 200.— [Rep.’