Court rules Dobbins can build housing for workers on Rt. 63

Town of Yates appeals State Supreme Court decision, seeks moratorium to modify local law for farm labor housing

Photos by Tom Rivers: Yates Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the Town Board is seeking the moratorium to clean up outdated language in the local law about farm labor camps. He is speaking during Thursday’s Orleans County Planning Board meeting.

YATES – A State Supreme Court justice has sided with H.H. Dobbins & Son in the Lyndonville company’s effort to build housing on North Lyndonville Road (Route 63) for workers for its apple farm and its packing house.

Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso on Nov. 8 made his ruling in favor of Dobbins in a lawsuit against the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board in Yates. The judge also backed Dobbins in its request to make the housing year-round and not just seasonal.

Yates on Nov. 14 filed a notice of appeal from attorneys Charles Malcomb and Aaron Saykin, Hodgson Russ LLP lawyers working for the town.

Brian Napoli, the Planning Board chairman, said state Agriculture & Markets has struck down local laws deemed too restrictive to agriculture. Napoli supported the board’s decision to deny the Yates request due to litigation between the town and Dobbins.

The ruling from Caruso rescinds and annuls the ZBA interpretation dated June 29 regarding “whether farm labor camps may be occupied by H2B workers who pack apples?”

Dobbins employs foreign workers through the H2B program for the packing house. Foreign workers who work directly on farms come through visas through the H2A program.

The ZBA opposed the 30-bed housing because the H2B workers don’t just work for Dobbins. They also pack apples for about 50 other farms.

But the judge said the labor camp “may be occupied by H2B workers, and any other workers, who perform fruit packing operations and/or field work.”

Yates, besides appealing the judge’s decision, also seeks a moratorium on farm labor housing, and wants to amend the local law to say the housing must used by at least 51 percent of workers at one farm.

The town doesn’t have an issue with farm labor housing when the housing is used for people who are doing farm work for the farm that owns the housing. But Yates officials say H.H. Dobbins Inc. owns and operates a packing house that serves many farms, not a single entity.

Yates attorneys, in court filings, describe the packing house as a “factory” that shouldn’t be included under farm labor housing. Judge Caruso ruled the packing house employees should be considered farm workers and eligible for the housing.

Dobbins operates a farm and the packing house. H.H. Dobbin & Son LLC owns a fruit orchard and the 30-bed labor camp would be used solely by those workers from June through the end of November.

H.H. Dobbins Inc. owns the packing house, which utilizes the H2B program with foreign workers. That operation plans to use the housing from the end of November through May.

There are workers for the orchard from February through May, and Dobbins officials say they want the housing to be shared by workers from both operations during those three months.

The Orleans County Planning Board considered the town’s request for a moratorium on farm labor housing during its meeting last Thursday. The board ultimately voted to deny the referral from the town, with members saying they didn’t want to weigh in on an issue in pending litigation.

Jim Simon, the Yates town supervisor, said the town currently has more than 200 beds of farm labor housing. The town isn’t trying to block farm labor housing. It just wants to update the law which he said currently “has a lot of old language, etc.” That law was last updated in 2003.

He said the Town Board plans to work with the ag community to modify the regulations.

“We will work with farm for a good law,” he said.

Gary Daum, a member of both the county and town planning boards, said the town is seeking to address questions about the current regulations in place. He said he values Dobbins as an important local employer in the town.

Dave D’Anniballe, controller at H.H. Dobbins & Son LLC, said the town is seeking to change the law while Dobbins has already submitted a plan.

“We’re concerned the town is trying to move the goal posts while the kick is on the way,” he said.

Dobbins applied for the housing on Jan. 4, 2023 and still is in limbo on moving forward with a building that would be 104 feet by 40 feet. With more delays from the town’s court appeal, and now a proposed moratorium, D’Anniballe said it could be 2025 or later when the housing could be fully utilized. Dobbins should be able to get started on the labor housing in 2024 but would only have use of it for harvest workers from August to November, D’Anniballe said.

He presented a packet of information to the Planning Board that included a letter signed by 31 farmers against the moratorium and the plan to change the local law, requiring at least 51 percent of workers to be at a single farm.

Those farmers disputed a characterization from Town Board members that the labor camps are like “barns.” The farmers said new farm labor housing facilities have modern kitchens, cable TV, wireless internet, flat-screen TVs, high-efficiency heating and numerous energy-efficient windows to let in natural light.

Anna Shuknecht, a senior loan officer for Farm Credit East, sent in a letter supporting Dobbins in its push to improve the housing for the foreign workers. Dobbins packs 1.1 million bushels of apples, with Orleans County farms representing 75 percent of the farms served by the packing house. Dobbins has 71 employees overall including local workers.

Maureen Torrey, a farm owner in Yates for 30 years, said in a letter to the town that she is “quite disturbed” by Yates proposed moratorium on applications, approvals and construction of farm labor camps. The moratorium holds up investment in the housing and sends a discouraging message to the farm community, Torrey said.

She said many different visa programs allow for farm labor programs with the stays ranging from three to 10 months, and those programs are regulated by the federal government. The labor housing also is regularly inspected by local and state government officials.

Torrey said many farmers have formed cooperatives and work together for marketing and packaging of farm commodities – fruit, vegetables, dairy products and grain.

Chad Kirby, president of the Orleans County Farm Bureau, also sent a letter in support of the Dobbins labor housing, specifically the option to have housing that serves more than one farm. Kirby said other family farms may need to share housing, or may need to rent space because they cannot afford to build their own.