The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About05/04/2022 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting th Minutes of May 4, 2022 Members Present Members Absent Guests Tom Stevenson – Chairperson Scott Russell (TB Liaison) Karl Novak Chris Baiz Jim Glover Katie Sepenoski Doug Cooper Mark VanBourgondien Marty Sidor Anthony Sannino Steve Schnee John Sepenoski John B. Sepenoski Jr. Opening: th The Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting was called to order on Wednesday May 4 at 7:10 pm in the Southold Town Hall meeting room. Next Meeting(s): th The next regular AAC meeting will be held on Wednesday May 18 2022, at 7:00 pm in the Southold Town Hall meeting hall and via Zoom. Chapter 70:  The committee discussed sending an email to the Board members asking for an update on the status of the Chapter 70 and to request a code committee meeting.  The email should state that the AAC met with the Board in work session and are formally requesting that Chapter 70 be moved along in the process. We would like to get a code committee meeting scheduled soon and that we do not feel that creating another committee is necessary or beneficial to the process.  An email will be typed up and sent out for the AAC members to review before being sent out to the Town Board. Motion made by John Sepenoski to draft an email to the Town board in regards to Chapter 70, Seconded by Doug Cooper, ALL in Favor. Big House Code:  The town had a code committee meeting yesterday (5/3/22) on the Big House code and some members of the AAC attended.  A discussion was had on the information gained from the code committee meeting.  A few of the items included in the draft of the code should have been introduced earlier then yesterday especially since the public hearings start next month. Page 1 | 4 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting th Minutes of May 4, 2022  Farm Labor housing is written in the code as exempt, but because there is no definition it is not effective. A definition needs to be in place.  The 5 definitions presented by John Burke back at the work session was gone over and the AAC agreed that the second definition (noted in 03/23/22 minutes) should be used as it follows the guideline of the most updated version of ag and markets definition dated 7/24/14.  Another email needs be drafted to send to the Town Board about the committee’s concerns about the Big House Code. The email should include that the Farm Worker Housing definition should be adopted prior to or in conjunction with the Big House code and the wording in section 280-207 2 SS D should read that the restrictions set forth in this section shall not be applied to housing for agricultural labor. That housing for agricultural labor shall not be considered a residential dwelling.  The email should also include that the code should not place any restrictions on properties larger than 5 acres as the code is meant to address large houses on small lots, not farm parcels. These types of restrictions will lead to more subdivisions.  Another point for the email is the pyramid law. It has never been presented in previous copies of the draft. It should be noted in the code that the pyramid law will only apply to residential structures only and that agricultural structures are exempt. Motion made by John Sepenoski to draft an email to the Town board in regards to Big House Code, Discussion, Seconded by Chris Baiz, ALL in Favor. Adjournment: MOTION to adjourn at 8:50 pm made by Tom Stevenson, seconded by Anthony Sannino, ALL in favor. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Laura Arena Emails Sent to the Board: Chapter 70: Dear Town Board Members, On March 22nd the committee met with you for a work session regarding changes to Chapter 70 that we believe are in the best interest of the Town. To date we have not heard anything back from the board in regards to that meeting. The committee is asking if you could let us know where Chapter 70 stands and we are also formally requesting a Code Committee meeting to discuss Chapter 70 and how it can proceed. In response to the Planning Board's suggestion to form another subcommittee specifically for Chapter 70, the AAC agrees very strongly with the Supervisor that it would be a step backwards in the process, and possibly keep this important "debate" from happening in public at the Town Board level.. The Committee is making a recommendation to the board to not use the Planning departments letter as a guideline in moving forward on Chapter 70. Page 2 | 4 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting th Minutes of May 4, 2022 Respectfully, The Agricultural Advisory Committee Big House Dear Town Board Members, We are writing this letter in response to the draft of the "Big House" code that was handed out at the Code Committee meeting on May 3rd. These sweeping changes to the zoning code are ostensibly designed to stop large, out-of-character houses from being built on small lots, which would not be under the purview of the Agricultural Advisory Committee as codified in Chapter 71 of the Town Code. However, these changes go far beyond restricting "McMansions" in Southold's neighborhoods- every residential zone of any size would be affected. Since virtually all farmland in town is also residentially-zoned, we question if the original intent of these changes really was also to add another restriction to Southold's farms. In our discussions with AAC's Town Board liaison, we wanted assurances that the right to agricultural worker housing and farm structures would remain unaffected. A cap on maximum house size isn't necessarily opposed by the AAC. However, in all our discussions we were never presented with the full text of the code changes, only bulk schedule charts. Thus, the committee was surprised to see a Pyramid Law proposed that would create new restrictions on all accessory structures in addition to the principal structure on a lot, with no exceptions. The AAC voted unanimously to request the following changes made to the code:  That the restrictions do not apply to anything over 5 acres. That section S.208-207 A 1 subsections F and G should be removed. As the Ag committee we don’t feel that regulating the town's larger parcels this way is right. These subsections are also pro-development in the sense that they could lead to more subdivisions (i.e. "the final crop") since the only way to get more building area on large parcels would be to subdivide.  The Pyramid Law on Pg. 4 should include the words “only be applied to primary residential structures”. The draft code would most certainly restrict ag structures and all habitable or non- habitable accessory structures. It's our understanding that the civic associations lobbying for the "Big House" code wanted all accessory structures further regulated by the code but were told that the TB wasn't willing to go that far.  Section 280-207 2 subsection D should state "The restrictions set forth in this section shall not be applied to housing for agricultural labor. Housing for agricultural labor shall not be considered a residential dwelling." The committee would also like to have the definition for Agricultural Labor Housing decided on prior to the adoption of the big house code as per our discussions. The committee has agreed upon the second definition (listed below) from John Burkes memo dated 3/22/22. We feel that this definition follows the guidelines of the most recent version of the NYS Ag & Markets the most. We look forward to hearing from you regarding this matter hopefully before you schedule a public hearing. Sincerely, Page 3 | 4 Town of Southold Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting th Minutes of May 4, 2022 The Agricultural Advisory Committee Definition – 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 operations 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. Page 4 | 4