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Page 10 Grassroots January 2009
Farm wins worker housing permit lawsuit
LEWIS FAMILY FARMS recently won a major victory in its long legal struggle
against the Adirondack Park Agency over these houses for farm workers.
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New York Farm Bureau
159 Wolf Road, P.O. Box 5330
Albany, New York 12196
BARBARA LEWIS PHOTO
New York Farm Bureau helped Lewis family
fight long legal battle to protect their rights
By ELIZABETH DRIBUSCH
edribusch@nyfb.org
Agriculture has won an important case
against the Adirondack Park Agency, which
had been seeking to require permits for farm
worker houses in the Adirondack Park.
In Lewis Family Farms v. APA, the APA
failed in its attempt to treat the farm worker
house as “single family” dwellings, and thus
subject to the agency’s onerous regulations,
which govern most construction and development
in the park in a Nov. 19, 2008 ruling.
Lewis Family Farms v. APA is an important
case for agriculture because it represents
the significance of agricultural protection
statutes and exemptions for agriculture
within other state laws, like the Adirondack
Park Act.
The battle may not be over, however, as
the State Attorney General has filed a notice
of appeal of the decision.
Case History
The Adirondack Park is a unique and irreplaceable
ecological resource with a long and
rich agricultural history and future. Lewis
Family Farm, which is located in Essex
County and owned by NYFB members
Barbara and Salim (Sandy) Lewis, is a stateof-the-art
organic farm that raises crops and
beef and has operated in the Adirondack
Park since 1978. The farm is approximately
1,100 acres in size and represents the consolidation
of several smaller farms. This case
began when Lewis Family Farm needed to
provide its workers with housing, which is
often necessary to recruit and retain farm
workers given the lack of available housing
in rural agricultural areas.
The Lewis Family Farm sought and
received local building permits from the
Town of Essex to construct modular housing.
The farm considered the units to be “agricultural
use structures” under the park’s regulations
and did not believe that the farm worker
housing fell within APA jurisdiction, so it
did not seek an APA permit. The farm began
construction of the three housing units and
the APA initiated enforcement activities,
claiming that the units were “single family
dwellings” and thus subject to APA oversight.
By the time the matter reached the APA hearing,
the agency was seeking a penalty in
excess of $1 million from the farm.
After a hearing, the APA, interpreting its
own statute, determined that the dwellings
were “single family dwellings,” not “agricultural
use structures,” as defined by APA regulations.
The construction of a “single family
dwelling” is subject to APA jurisdiction,
while an “agricultural use structure” is not.
The APA rules define “agricultural use structure”
as “any barn, stable, shed, silo, garage,
fruit and vegetable stand or any other building
or structure directly and customarily
associated with agricultural use.” In the
APA’s opinion, farm worker housing could
never be an “agricultural use structure.”
Further, since the APA determined that the
dwellings were “single family dwellings,”
since there were more than one, the APA
ruled the farm worker housing was also an
illegal subdivision. After coming to the
conclusion that the project was subject to
its jurisdiction, the APA assessed a
$50,000 fine, established a timeline and
prescribed a series of actions that the farm
would need to take to secure the necessary
permits.
Lewis Family Farms
vs. APA
Lewis Family Farm appealed the APA
decision by filing an Article 78 proceeding
in Essex County Supreme Court. The
state attorney general, on behalf of the
APA, also filed a civil suit against the
farm, and Barbara and Sandy Lewis personally,
to compel the payment of the
$50,000 penalty, as well as compel the
completion of the permit process. The
two actions were consolidated in Essex
County Supreme Court before Judge
Richard B. Meyer.
Recognizing the importance of this case to
New York agriculture, New York Farm
Bureau sought and received permission to
file a friend of the court legal brief and to
participate in oral arguments in the case.
The NYFB Board of Directors approved the
use of Legal Defense Fund dollars to finance
the use of expert appellate counsel to draft its
brief and participate in oral arguments.
While many procedural and substantive
legal arguments were made to Meyer, both
in oral arguments and in brief form by the
parties and NYFB, the most significant
question was whether farm worker housing
was included in the definition of agricultural
use structure. In his Nov. 19
decision, Meyer answered unequivocally,
“Yes.” The court stated that as a matter of
law, farm worker housing was included in
the definition of agricultural use structure,
and as a result the APA was not entitled to
deference to interpret the statute any
other way. “Had the legislature intended
to limit ‘agricultural use structures’ to
‘accessory structures’ and preclude a single
family dwelling from qualifying as an
Please see APA PG. 21 ➤