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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/23/2022 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of March 23, 2022 Members Present Members Absent Guests Tom Stevenson – Chairperson Anthony Sannino Greg Doroski (TB Member) Chris Baiz John Sepenoski Louia Evans (TB Member) Doug Cooper Katie Sepenoski Jim Glover Steve Schnee John B. Sepenoski Jr. Mark VanBourgondien Scott Russell (TB Liaison) Opening: rd The Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting was called to order on Wednesday March 23 at 7:10 pm in the Southold Town Hall meeting hall. Next Meeting(s): th The next regular AAC meeting will be held on Wednesday April 6 2022, at 7:00 pm in the Southold Town Hall meeting hall and via Zoom. Meeting Minutes: thth Motion to Approve the February 9 and March 9 meeting minutes, made by John Sepenoski Jr., seconded by Tom Stevenson, ALL in Favor who voted. Committee Membership:  Chris Baiz met with Denis Noncarrow and Lynda Rudder to discuss the committee members terms and to correct the information on the Towns website.  Each year there should be three members terms that expire, at which time the member needs to email the Town Clerks office to renew their term or resign from the committee. st  The members who need to email Lynda Rudder by March 31 to renew their term for 2022, are Chris Baiz, Doug Cooper, and John Sepenoski Jr.  The members whose terms expire in 2023 are Jim Glover, Anthony Sannino, and Tom Stevenson.  The members whose terms expire in 2024 are Steven Schnee, John Sepenoski, and Mark VanBourgondien. Farm Worker Housing Definition:  Please see attachment of farmworker housing definition samples from the Town Attorney’s office. They were given for information and reference.  The first definition does list the Town of Southold in the definition, so it could possibly be a definition already in the code. Page 1 | 3 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of March 23, 2022  Supervisor Russell said he would check to see if It’s in the Towns code. If the definition is already on the code a new definition isn’t needed.  Supervisor Russell also stated that the committee has submitted their recommendation and definition already to the Town Board, the Board has gathered their own information and at this point the Board needs to decide on a definition and notice it at the same time as the big house.  The Supervisor does not agree with a part of the definition in regard to immediate family and farm owners. They should be excluded from farm labor housing. Chapter 483 clearly distinguishes farm owners and immediate family.  Discussion on family and farm labor housing. What qualifies as farm labor housing and what is just another house for family that works on the farm. Chapter 70:  At the code committee meeting yesterday (03/22) a memo from the planning board was presented that was initiated on 07/30/21.  A response needs to be given to the Town Board by next week from the AAC.  Discussion on the memo and the process it recommends.  The memo came to be after the recommendations made by this committee on Chapter 70 was sent to the Board. It was then forwarded to Land Preservation and Planning, the memo was plannings response. The Land Preservation response was received last year with notes showing what they agreed with and disagreed with.  The consensus is that the memo is a step backwards in the process. The committee has done the work. Put in hours of time to come up with what they feel is a fair update to Chapter 70.  The planning committee memo is recommending (in the memo) that 4-6 people form a committee, which is not enough to have all the people needed to form a proper committee to work on this.  Greg Doroski said the question that needs to be answered is what is a development right. A consensus needs to be determined to move forward.  Mark stated to find out what a development right is you have to go back to the beginning and the original intent. The land on the east end was meant to preserve agriculture and by preserving agriculture you are preserving the vista.  The plan in the beginning was also meant to try and help agricultural families who were going through a recession and to preserve the land from mass development.  Need to figure out what the expectation is and figure out what the balance is for those rights. For example, the vistas or greenhouses. It is unfair to limit what the farmer can grow to preserve those vistas. Farming like any other industry needs to adapt to the changing times.  Doug Cooper asked that the following be noted: He keeps hearing the taxpayers is complaining about they are getting when the development rights are purchased. The school tax on property is around 60% to 70%. The cost to educate a child in Mattituck-Cutchogue school district is about $40-$45,000 per year. A piece of property with a new house and a new family with two kids costs the district about $80,000 a year to educate those kids. But if the town were to buy the development rights off that piece of property for about $80,000 an acre and that is only a one-time cost (not annually like the school) in two years of those kids in school paid for those development rights. Now its not all tax payers that are paying for the development rights. Its new people that are coming in or real estate transfers that are taxed. That transfer tax should be looked at as a mitigation fee. When someone new comes here they are costing the town, from police to fire, to school. That tax is nowhere near enough to Page 2 | 3 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes of March 23, 2022 cover the cost of those services. When the town buys the development rights the land owner gets a one-time payment, there is no additional money for future generations. But the town and the taxpayers benefit forever. It’s a yearly advantage of the community to own those development rights, its less school taxes, less police needed, etc.. But future generations of that land do not benefit ever again.  Doug also wanted noted that open space pays no taxes and costs the town money to maintain. Preserved farmland still pays taxes, it pays the same taxes as non-preserved farm land.  There is a major tax savings to the town and that is the benefit the town receives from buying the development rights.  The town needs to do a better job at educating the public about what the tax is actually paying for and who is paying it. Also, showing the benefits of those purchases.  The definition of a development right currently reads as excludes agricultural production. Because ag structures are part of ag production, they should also be excluded from the easement restrictions.  There is a flawed sense that the farmer has to give something back for the money they receive and that is becoming stripping the farmer of their ag rights. That is not right because they are not buying their ag rights. What the town is getting back is the inability to build houses on the land. That was the original goal of the law to prevent overdevelopment and preserve the open land.  The Committee is making a recommendation to the board to not use the Planning departments letter as a guideline to move forward on farm land on preserved land. But we need to keep working with the board and planning and land preservation in a group to move forward.  The board needs to hear other perspectives of what people think a development right is and ultimately the board will decide the definition. That doesn’t mean it can’t change in the future with a different board.  Further discussion on development rights and how it has developed into what it is and how it can be changed. . Adjournment: MOTION to adjourn at 8:45 pm made by Chris Baiz, seconded by John Sepenoski Jr., ALL in favor. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Laura Arena Page 3 | 3 WILLLAM McQUAIDOF SCOTT A.RUSSELL . TOWN ATTORNEY �'QF ; � ' bill.duffy@town.southold.ny.us 5 Supervisor DAMON A. ' Town Hall Annex, 54375 Route 25 ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY P.O. Box 1179 daonh@southoldtownny.gov CIO Southold,New York 11971-0959 JOHN J. BURKE Telephone (631) 765-1939 ASSISTANT TOWN ATTORNEY co ur Facsimile (631) 765-6639 johnbu@southoldtownny.gov OFFICE OF THE TOWN ATTORNEY TOWN OF SOUTHOLD Date: March 22, 2022 To: Code Committee and Town Board From: John Burke, Deputy Town Attonic Re: AGRICULTURAL WORKER HOI.J,SG DEFINITIONS AGRICULTURAL WORKER HOUSING Any area of land and all buildings or other structures pertaining thereto, any part of which may be occupied by persons employed as laborers in farm activities in the Town of Southold who are provided with sleeping facilities, in whole or in part, by the owner without a stipulated agreement as to the duration of their stay or whether or not they are supplied with meals, but who are supplied with such services or facilities as are necessary for agricultural production on the owner's property HOUSING FOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR The term"housing for agriculture labor"means dwellings and group quarters used to provide housing for regular and essential employees and their immediate families who are primarily employed in connection with the subject farm operation. Regular employees are those who are usually and customarily employed to assist in producing farm products and essential employees are those, without whose help, a necessary production function of the farm operation could not take place. The Property owner or its immediate family members cannot use the buildings or structures used for housing for agricultural labor as a primary residence, except that a farm owner's immediate family members may qualify as farm workers only if they are regular and essential employees of the farm and do not maintain an ownership interest in the farm operation. Housing for agricultural labor shall be subject to and must comply with all applicable state, county and local regulations and laws. FARM WORKER HOUSING On-farm structures occupied by farm laborers who are employed primarily on the farm where the structures are located and any nonworking family members of such laborers. Farm worker housing shall not include housing for any owners, lessees or operators of the farm or any officers, partners or members thereof. 1 FARM WORKER HOUSING. Farm worker housing shall be allowed to house workers who are directly employed on the farm on which the housing is located, and their families. Such housing shall comply with all of the requirements of the New York State Sanitary Code. The Planning Board shall refer to the New York State Health Department for review of the sanitary plans for the fifth and every subsequent unit of farm worker housing and for any multifamily structure used for farm worker housing. Such housing shall also comply with all of the requirements of the New York uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and current HUD standards with respect to mobile homes. Such housing must comply with the setback restrictions of this chapter as though they were principal uses; however, lot area requirements do not apply to this use. In issuing a special use permit for this use,the Planning Board shall set forth terms for removal of the structures in the event the use ceases. FARM LABOR HOUSING A dwelling unit used by farm employees and their families. 2