[Waterbaby]

Originally Posted by Pepper

Can you substantiate this? I have a close friend who owns in excess of 20 acres of land in that immediate vicinity, and another friend who owns two acres across the street. Neither of them have been given notice (as abutters) of any such sale nor of any such plans.

Just curious where you heard or read this, and whether this proposed project is in Laconia or in Gilford.

Can you provide any more details?

I'd be curious also, Pepper, as I always am -- I always wonder where people "hear" or "know" things from!

As far as receiving notice of a sale, there is no law requiring notice of sale of a property, unless the Lakes Region has more stringent laws than the State does. As abutters, the first notice your friends would have of Target putting in a store would be when Target or whomever were to file an application with the Planning Board or Zoning Board or whomever they are required to file with in the town in which the property lies; at that time all abutters would by law be "noticed" by certified, return receipt mail. (In addition, I don't believe any business would outright purchase a piece of property "assuming" that they can proceed with their plans without doing due diligence; this would include a contingency on the Purchase and Sale of gaining approval to build and open their store/restaurant/whatever else.)

If your friends want to find out if that property has, indeed, changed hands, they should check with the County Registry of Deeds. I would suggest checking with the Town, but usually the Town offices aren't aware of a property transfer until they receive notice from the Registry -- sometimes this can take upwards of two to three months, depending on how many transactions have taken place and how well or understaffed they are.

I'm no expert, but I have held a Real Estate Salesperson's license in this State for fifteen years now, and I also worked for a Town in southeast NH and in that capacity had to make sure all abutters were properly noticed when required. Hope this helps some!