County planners approve $5.5 million expansion of apple-packing facility in Gaines

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 22 December 2023 at 9:10 am

Photo by Tom Rivers: Robert Brown, president of Lake Ontario Fruit, speaks during Thursday’s meeting of the Orleans County Planning Board.

ALBION – The Orleans County Planning Board gave its blessing to an expansion at Lake Ontario Fruit, an apple-packing business on Route 104.

The company, which packs and distributes about 1 million bushels of apples each year for more than 30 local farms, is working on a 28,070-square-foot addition of controlled atmosphere storage, a $5.5 million project that would mirror a similar expansion in 2013.

The County Planning Board recommended the Town of Gaines approve the site plan for the project and also a height variance. The building is proposed to be 36.2 feet high, just above the town limit of 35 feet. The 36.2 feet is same as other buildings on site and Lake Ontario Fruit wants to maintain that continuity.

The warehouse will also be 140 feet wide and 200 ½ feet in length. The new space is needed because many of the new apple trees that were planted in recent years are coming into maturity, with a full crop expected next fall. The new addition would allow the company pack about 220,000 more bushels, said Robert Brown, president of Lake Ontario Fruit and co-owner of Orchard Dale Fruit Co. in Waterport.

The project will disturb about 2 acres, with construction taking about 10 months. Brown told the county planners that Lake Ontario Fruit is working to upgrade its stormwater management system, which includes storm sewers and a pond behind the buildings that is designed to slowly release water into Proctor Brook. The company is working with the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of Gaines on the stormwater management plan.

Lake Ontario Fruit has 71 employees and will add 10 more jobs as part of the controlled atmosphere storage expansion at 14234 Ridge Rd. The project was backed by the Orleans Economic Development Agency with nearly $600,000 in incentives, including sale tax abatements of $240,000 on construction and $156,000 on fixtures and equipment.

The EDA also approved a 10-year PILOT that gradually phases in the taxes on the new addition. Lake Ontario Fruit would get a 100 percent exemption or $34,496 off in property taxes the first year, and then 10 percent will be added each year until it’s at 100 percent in year 11. That PILOT will save the company $189,729 in property taxes over the 10 years. Lake Ontario Fruit also will be paying $155,233 more in taxes during than 10 years than is currently paid on the existing buildings.