By JESSICA PASKO
Associated Press

ALBANY - Salim "Sandy" Lewis and his wife, Barbara, had owned a progressive, organic farm in the northeastern Adirondacks for several years when they decided in 2005 to build new housing for their farmworkers. But the Lewises didn't want the trailers common on other farms - they wanted to build four modular homes so they could attract high-caliber help like manager Marco Turco, who has a Ph.D. in agroecology.

The Lewis Family Farm got permits from the Town of Essex and began building. That's when the couple got hit with a $10,000 fine from the Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees zoning issues in the expansive wilderness area.

What followed - and is continuing - is a battle between a tenacious former stockbroker and a powerful state agency, raising questions about the rights of property owners and farmers.

At issue is whether the dozens of farmers in the Adirondacks have control of their lands under agricultural laws or if the APA has the final word.

The Lewises thought they only needed local building permits for their structures, a contention backed up by the local zoning-code officer and state Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker. Hooker even wrote a letter in support of the Lewises, saying that farmworker housing doesn't fall under the APA's jurisdiction.

"Situations like this don't typically arise with state agencies. Under the state's right-to-farm law, the farmers usually win," said Peter Gregg, spokesman for the state Farm Bureau.

Farmers in the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park have butted heads with the agency over various issues, and they say Sandy Lewis is one of the only farmers wealthy enough to challenge the APA. He's also one of the most outspoken, and is known for his no-holds barred opinions, blunt speech and past problems with the agency. He's no stranger to legal problems either; in 1990, while heading S.B. Lewis and Co. Investments, he pleaded guilty to stock manipulation. President Bill Clinton pardoned Lewis 11 years later.

On the other side is the Adirondack Park Agency, created in 1971. Its 11 board members are in charge of developing land-use plans for public and private lands within the park, which has led to numerous lawsuits.

The Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board says the APA is in the wrong. The board believes the APA's enforcement conflicts with state law that says the agency doesn't have jurisdiction over farm building. The review board's executive director, Frederick Monroe, believes the APA has ignored Lewis' position.

"I think part of it because of his personality," which isn't right, Monroe said.

Earlier this month, state Supreme Court Judge Hon. Richard Meyer ruled that the farm has the right to challenge the APA's jurisdiction. Both parties now have until the end of July to answer the other's suits. Meyer turned down the state's request for an extension, and Lewis' attorney, John Privitera, says he plans to move for summary judgment. The farm has until Aug. 4 to do so.

When the APA caught wind of the Lewises' construction, the farm applied for an after-the-fact APA permit as a precaution. The agency stopped reviewing the application and declared it incomplete because of existing violations, and told the Lewises they'd have to pay a $10,000 fine for starting construction without first obtaining the APA permits. The Lewises refused, and the 1,200-acre farm sued last year, arguing that farm housing counts as agricultural-use structures under state laws and that the APA lacks jurisdiction over farm lands.

APA spokesman Keith McKeever said the agency has issued permits in the past for single-family dwellings on farms, and would have issued the Lewises a similar permit. McKeever said the agency wasn't aware of how much construction the Lewises had done until their permit application was received. That triggered a violation, and the agency won't issue a permit until a settlement is reached and the enforcement issue is solved. Under the original settlement the agency offered, the Lewises would have to pay the $10,000 fine to get the permit. That fine was later raised to $50,000.

Gregg said he's particularly concerned that the APA overrode Hooker's view that the Lewis structures were farm buildings and not single-family homes. Under the state's farm laws, farmers are authorized to build housing for workers despite local objections.

"There's no reason we should not be able to give decent housing to our farmworkers," said Lewis. "If the APA is able to assert jurisdiction over the Lewis farm, the Lewis farm will cease to exist."

The Lewis case was originally dismissed last year, and turned over to the APA's enforcement committee. In March, the committee rejected the argument that the three modular homes were "agriculture structures." They also say the Lewises illegally built on Resource Management lands and in a river area. The agency said it's opposed to what they call Lewis' "blatant and repeated disregard for lawful process," including the cease-and-desist order that agency staff issued.

Essex County Cornell Cooperative Extension Executive Director Anita Deming says the APA's rules for farmers are confusing.