Dan's Papers - July 27, 2007 - Lemonade? No Problem. Farm Stand? Look Out.

Whether you cruise, bike, run or stroll down the Hamptons roads, it's almost impossible to miss the farm stands that line the streets. Whether it is the Halseys, Lesters, Pikes, Babinskis, Falkowskis or one of many others, Long Island farm families provide the community with locally-grown fruits and vegetables season after season. Protecting our local agriculture and our farmers may seem like an easy task, but in reality, many things stand in the way of farmers' success -- most notably, issues surrounding farm stands.

The challenge begins when farmers apply for a permit for a temporary accessory farm stand, meaning that the farm stand serves merely as an addition to the farmer's principal land. The town of Southampton allots nearly seven pages to rules and regulations relating to obtaining a permit for a temporary farm stand. Who knew so much could be said for something as simple as selling fresh fruits and vegetables by the side of the road? Below is just a sampling of the hoops farmers must jump through to open one of these farm stands.

To start off, if you want to open a single roadside stand in the Town of Southampton that is less than 30 square feet in area, you are in luck. You don't need a permit! In other words, unless you plan to open a farm stand that's the size of a large desk, you are going to need a permit. That being said, a permit for a farm stand will only be given if the principal farming area adjacent to the stand matches or exceeds 10 acres (not including the land for the farm stand). The land can be subdivided into smaller plots but 10 is the magic number. The reason for the ten acres, of course, is to make sure that these farmers are credible and professional rather than just peddlers trying to vend their own rendition of fresh produce off the roadside.

Once a farmer establishes their principal land of ten acres or more, there are some other regulations to be followed. A farm stand cannot sell supporting goods, including baked goods, preserves, cheese, milk, eggs, etc, in an area greater than 240 square feet. In addition, these supporting goods cannot take up more than 20% of the area set aside for products grown by the farmer. So maybe not everything at a farm stand comes directly from the farmer's crops, but the majority of what's being sold is local and what people would expect from a farm stand out here. The final rules to mention are those of signage on farm stand property. A temporary farm stand may only have two ground identification signs and there are eight supplemental regulations on what types of signs are appropriate such as signs cannot exceed six feet in height measured from the ground and signs shall not be illuminated and the signs must be removed when the season ends. You can only imagine the others...

Once a farmer receives a permit, the challenges may continue. The issue most frequently heard about is that of land ownership. Farmers do not always own the land they work on so from time to time, we, as a local community, hear stories about farmers losing their land to large developers. The East End community tries to ward off some development, but it's not a sure thing in all cases.

One way that all property owners in the area get involved, whether voluntarily or not, is through the Community Preservation Fund. This fund is financed by the 2.5% tax on real estate sales. Whenever there is a land transaction, buyers pay a one-time tax that goes toward preserving open lands and farmland. Taxes may have gone up since this plan was implemented, but the Preservation Fund has preserved 6,000 acres of land thus far and in the long run, is said to keep overall taxes down, since undeveloped land does not increase the demand for public services.

Pike's farm stand in Sagaponack currently finds itself in the midst of a land dispute that may go beyond the amount that the Community Preservation Fund can provide. The Pikes lease land for their farm stand from their landowner, James Hopping, who decided a few months ago to sell the land for $11 million. The Pikes have been on Sagg Main Street for 20 years. Since Memorial Day, when customers come to the cashier with their baskets filled with an assortment of local corn, vine ripe tomatoes, strawberries, onions, peppers and others, they can't help but notice the sign in bold letters: "Please Help Us Save the Farm Stand." As you read on, the words "landlord," "sell," "preserve" and "development" appear to be flashing red lights that capture people's attention and force them to contemplate the situation at hand.

If the land gets sold, who knows what will soon occupy the vast fields. Will it be a new series of McMansions? A horse farm? Maybe a shopping center? Who knows? But we do know that if the land gets sold, Sagaponack residents will no longer be able to drive down the road to Pike's for local produce.

So this is where John Halsey and the Peconic Land Trust come in. In the past 24 years, the organization has helped preserve 8,600 acres of land through private donations. And it is currently involved with the Pikes' situation.

"We are really trying to help them keep doing what their doing in spite of pressure on them" Halsey said.

Between the three parties -- the Peconic Land Trust, the Pikes family and the Hoppings -- there needs to be a happy medium. The eventual hope is that the Peconic Land Trust can receive enough private donations, as well as town support, to help give the Hoppings a reasonable sum for the land so the Pikes can continue in their present location. But don't think this will happen overnight. The process is in the early stages and the land should be appraised in the next three to four weeks. Then, negotiations may begin.

The Pikes continue to gain support from their customers, who leave their information on the sheet below the "Please Save The Farm Stand" sign -- a further indication that people do not want to see this farm stand go so easily.