By KIM SMITH DEDAM
Staff Writer
November 20, 2008 04:08 am
—
ELIZABETHTOWN — Lewis Family Farm Inc. has won a landmark agricultural legal decision in the Adirondack Park.
State Supreme Court in Essex County Wednesday dismissed Adirondack Park Agency action requiring that the farm obtain APA permits for three farmworker houses built last year.
Lewis Family Farm, owned by Salim "Sandy" and Barbara Lewis, received building permits from the town, but, since the project was defined under "agricultural use," they did not pursue an APA permit.
Asserting jurisdictional regulation, APA issued a cease-and-desist order to stop construction in June last year.
The agency subsequently fined the farm $50,000 for building on resource-management lands without a permit. A $50,000 payment from Lewis Family Farm was placed in escrow at the Essex County Treasurer's office while the case made its way through the courts.
The ensuing litigation has involved dueling civil cases between the farm, an 1,100-acre organic crop and beef farm located in Essex, and State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Office, representing the APA.
The case challenged legal jurisdiction under both state right-to-farm laws and APA regulation.
In the 15-page decision issued Wednesday, acting Supreme Court Judge Richard B. Meyer ruled Adirondack Park Agency Act regulation of single-family dwellings does not pertain to farmworker houses built as agricultural-use structures.
The decision essentially says a subset of construction pertaining to both housing and agricultural use is governed by farming laws.
But it turns on APA rules that define all farm structures as "one principal building."
"By specifically designating all 'agricultural-use structures,' 'single-family dwellings' and 'mobile homes' on farm property as 'one principal building,' the legislature made clear its intent that all such structures situate on agricultural lands be treated as one and the same under the APA Act," Meyer wrote.
The APA had ruled that a single-family dwelling could not be an agricultural-use structure and instead looked to its broader definition of land-use regulation on Resource Management lands.
"Also without merit is the agency's determination that single-family dwellings and agricultural-use structures 'are treated as separate and distinct uses under (APA) Act," Meyer wrote.
"There is nothing in the APA Act which precludes a 'single-family dwelling' 'directly and customarily associated with agricultural use' from qualifying as an 'agricultural-use structure.'"
Meyer's decision annulled the APA's enforcement action on the grounds that it was "affected by an error of law."
He also dismissed the APA's complaint of May 14 this year and "all causes of action therein."
Attorneys at the APA were reviewing the case Wednesday.
Spokesman Keith McKeever said they were looking at whether the Attorney General's Office would be willing to appeal the decision.
"We would expect to request an appeal," he said.
McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, PC., attorneys for the Lewis Family Farm, said the court provided a correct interpretation to New York state law.
"It is a great day for farmers," said John Privitera, lead attorney for the farm. "The right to farm in the park is secure."
What makes the decision landmark, he said, is in how it upholds a farmer's right to farm.
"It is now clear that the agency lacks jurisdiction to control farm development. That's important because this is a right-to-farm state. In conserving agricultural land, all agencies are supposed to avoid limiting farm development in any way," Privitera said.
He said the APA Act, in spirit, does not foster the open-space use of farmland.
"The agency clearly here sought power to control and regulate farm development and if, where and how farm-worker housing would be allowed. The landmark achievement is establishing the right to farm without regulatory interference by APA."
The New York State Farm Bureau also lauded the decision, telling the Associated Press, "We think this will send a strong message to the APA that farming is a worthwhile endeavor within the park and that it's not qualified to impose judgment on what does and doesn't constitute a farm practice."
Environmental groups see a darker side to the decision, asking, without any regulation, who controls land use on farms?
"What if the next generation on any farm decides to build houses and then subdivide?" said Adirondack Council spokesman John Sheehan.
"There is nothing to require farm workers to live there. The decision has lifted all jurisdiction from farm-worker housing," Sheehan said.
"We're going to ask that the Park Agency appeal, and at the very least, create a general permit (for farm-worker housing) so that they can keep track of farm lands and whether or not it's being converted into something else."
Sheehan said there are two potential ways to refine the legal decision: either on legal appeal or for the APA to petition the State Legislature for a bill to allow it jurisdiction over farm-worker housing.
Mr. Lewis said the decision, as he understands it, is only good in Essex County.
"We would love to see them not appeal," he said. "Frankly, it's a costly thing."
But bringing the decision to higher court would widen its application.
"On appeal, all counties in the park would be covered; it will only help the farmer if they appeal this."
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com
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