APA loses another round to farmer Lewis
The headline on Essex farmer Sandy Lewis's website this afternoon trumpets: "We won again, 5-0 in the appeal."
The Associated Press is confirming that a NY appeals court has endorsed Lewis's claim "that his housing for laborers is exempt from Adirondack Park Agency Regulation."
The Agency had sought to fine Lewis for building single-family homes for his workers in the town of Essex in the Champlain Valley.
Lewis -- a former Wall Street executive -- challenged the fine in court. He won a first round ruling, but the APA appealed.
A second unanimous ruling was handed down today.
According to the AP, the court determined that the state's "strong pro-farming policy" applies to farms in the Adirondacks just as much as it does to farms elsewhere in New York.
APA officials -- and green groups -- have argued that such a ruling would blow a hole in the state's ability to regulate new home development in the Park.
Farm-advocates, meanwhile, have described the Agency's enforcement effort as a bureaucratic over-reach.
It's unclear whether the APA and NY's Attorney General will appeal again.
posted by Brian Mann @ 7/16/2009 01:23:00 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
lewis is trying to cheat the rules in the guise of a hard working farmer. nys code says that to be exempt from building code under agricultural use exemption (page one of code book- section 101.2)
states: agricultural buildings are buildings used soley in the raising, growing, or storage of agricultural products by a farmer engaged in active farming operations,
in the vernacular- if it houses peole it's a residence, like the farmers house. if it's a barn it's exempt from state building code.
the oversight of this very definition of lewis's use of the buildings in question is blatent ignorance of state building code and enforcement.
as for the A.P.A. and their rules, well that's another story......
Would the contention be that housing for farm employees (not the farm owner) not be considered an integral part of the farm operation? Damn thos activist judges!
housing is housing. housing is not agricultural according to state building code. like it or not this is the code that the "powers that be" (insurance companies!) and their buddies in albany have codefied for our beloved state.
i believe that this is america and short of murder we all should be able to do pretty much what we need to on our property, if it causes no harm to others or the land. but this situation is beaurocracy at it's finest. " i have met the enemy and it is us!!"
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