Judge overturns rejection for Agricultural District
A state judge on April 16 ruled that the county Legislature violated state law when it rejected a recommendation to add a Patterson farm raising chickens, cows and other livestock to a special agricultural district.
Judge Victor Grossman invalidated a 5-3 vote by legislators to deny Ridge Ranch’s application to be added to the Agricultural District and ordered them to reconsider the farm’s request. The county Agriculture & Farmland Protection Board had recommended that Ridge Ranch be added.
Legislators based their August vote on an “erroneous” criterion established in 2007 that requires farms in the district have one of the top six of the state’s 10 classifications for soil, said Grossman. That requirement is “irrational, arbitrary and capricious” because the classifications concern crops, not livestock, he said.
In addition, an official with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets said in response to questions that soil types were developed to determine assessed values for taxes, not eligibility for agricultural districts.
Grossman also found that Neal Tomann, a Philipstown resident who is interim director of the county’s Soil & Water Conservation District, “subverted” the protection board’s 9-2 vote for Ridge Ranch’s inclusion when he told legislators that the farm failed to meet the soil requirement and lacked a site plan or stormwater protection plan for “alleged environmental concerns” over runoff.
Daniel Honovich, a veterinarian, runs Ridge Ranch with his wife, Arielle, who has a degree in animal science and teaches special education for the Mahopac school district. The couple raises and breeds Scottish Highland, Brahman Gyr and Zebu cows, along with chickens, goats, mini donkeys and rabbits. They also host tours, birthday parties, “goat yoga” and other activities.
Grossman’s ruling “is a reminder that facts still matter and that the law must be applied fairly,” said the Honovichs in an emailed statement on April 19. “This small win for our farm is a giant win for farmers across the region. If it helps even one other farm avoid what we went through, then the fight was worth it.”
Established by the state in 1971, the Agricultural Districts program is intended to “conserve, protect and encourage the development and improvement” of farmland. The benefits to farmers include being exempt from “unreasonable” local laws that might restrict operations.
The county Agriculture & Farmland Protection board is supposed to consist of six farmers and representatives from the Legislature; the Department of Planning, Development and Public Transportation; Real Property Tax Services Agency; Soil and Water Conservation District; and Cornell Cooperative Extension Putnam County.
Four other farms recommended for the Agricultural District — Big Red Barn Farm in Putnam Valley and Kascade Enterprises in Carmel, which board horses; and Lobster Hill Farm in Southeast and Ridge Ranch in Patterson, which breed livestock — were also rejected by the Legislature in August.
Despite the board’s support, Tomann told the Legislature’s Physical Services Committee a month earlier that the applicants failed to meet one or more of eight factors that the county determined in 2007 “shall be considered” for inclusion.
In addition to soil type, the factors include an on-site assessment by the board, the absence of local, state or federal violations and adherence to best practices.
I am proud of the young generation of farmers in Putnam County for fighting back against the “irrational, arbitrary and capricious” application of one factor in a 2007 county resolution to deny five farms enrollment into the county’s Agricultural District by our county Legislature and the interim Soil & Water District manager.
Dan and Arielle Honovich at Ridge Ranch have sunk nearly a year of their lives — not to mention a mountain of legal fees — into their lawsuit against the Legislature’s actions. Their time and dollars paid off with Judge Victor Grossman’s ruling.
During this fight, our Putnam farmers have written letters, rallied their neighbors, attended public meetings and re-established the ties between folks who steward the land. I hope the county stops wasting resident dollars with an appeal and focuses its energy on doing what the county Ag Board has been trying to do since 2022: update the 2004 agricultural plan and revise its out-of-touch and antiquated Ag District resolution to better reflect state law and the changing face of farming. Our county’s fired-up farmers and their friends will not give up in holding the Legislature accountable.
Apicello, the co-owner of Longhaul Farm in Philipstown, is the former chair of the Ag Board.