Though the East End is well-known for its North Fork wineries and Hamptons celebrities, its history is steeped in its agricultural roots, which continue to thrive through modern agricultural practices and succession planning.
For multiple generations of farmers, EHADP has been representing the East End’s farming families in their pursuit of long-term preservation efforts, succession planning, and even litigation to protect their right to farm.
Farmland preservation has been a shared goal of both farmers and local governments, which provide long-term assistance in farmland preservation through the Towns’ acquisition of Agricultural Easements and, more recently, Enhanced Conservation Easements, and Suffolk County’s purchase of Deeds of Development Rights. Whether the preservation effort is funded by the Towns’ Community Preservation Funds (or “CPFs”), the County’s program, a charitable donation by the owner, or as part of a subdivision process, EHADP has negotiated dozens of these preservation documents, the details of which can have a profound, long-term impact on future farming efforts.
At the same time, the firm’s attorneys have counseled agricultural families through their succession-planning efforts, often mitigating concerns that span into other of our practice areas including estate planning, business transactions and real estate. The enduring viability of family farms can often depend on careful planning that ensures a way to maintain the farm for future generations while addressing the financial impacts of rising property values on Eastern Long Island. The firm can assist farming families through this process.
Finally, when farmers are threatened by neighbors or government seeking to restrict the farming operations, the firm’s litigation team has taken on the “pro-agriculture” position of defending the rights of all farmers to engage in the ever-evolving agricultural practices that enable the survival of modern farms in a region threatened by development pressures and rising land costs. Among other examples, the firm has
- defended farmers against neighbors more interested in preserving their views across the farms than in the farmers’ right to engage in active agricultural practices
- defended the protected rights of horse farms from over-regulation by local governments
- defended farmers’ ability to protect their crops through deer-fencing
- litigated the rights of farmers to build staff housing for employees in a region experiencing high off-site housing costs
- represented several pro-farming organizations in a seminal case defending the rights of farmers to engage in modern farm activities necessary for the long-term viability of the farm.