Sandpiper Farm legal fight with Huntington Town could end soon

The yearslong legal battle between the Town of Huntington and an Asharoken horse farm with millions in property taxes at stake could be decided by the end of the year.

The outcome of the tax appeal case will determine whether the 440-acre Sandpiper Farm wins agricultural zoning status in whole or in part -- and the significant tax break that comes with the designation.

The ruling would also resolve whether owner Eatons Neck LLC is eligible for tax relief it is seeking back to 2010.

The land, which is part of Asharoken Village and occupies the peninsula at Huntington Town's northernmost point, once belonged to an heir of J.P. Morgan.

Eatons Neck paid more than $877,000 in residential property taxes to Huntington and town districts in 2014-2015, including the Northport-East Northport school district, which received $674,000, or 77 percent of the revenue.

If Sandpiper wins, the attorney representing the town has estimated taxes could be slashed to about $3,900 a year. To make up the lost revenue, the district would have to "shift the burden to the individual taxpayer," said school district attorney John Gross, a senior partner at Ingerman Smith, which has offices throughout the state.

He said a Sandpiper victory would increase the average tax burden by about $30 per resident.

Sandpiper's attorney, Jon Santemma, of Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz, argued the 20 horses trained on the property and the handful it has sold, makes Sandpiper a farm.

New York law requires $10,000 in revenue, on average, over two years, and Santemma said Sandpiper qualifies by that standard.

"These are minimal rules because the policy of New York State is to support farms and open spaces," he said.

Attorney Harvey Besunder, who represents the town and is from Islandia-based Bracken Margolin & Besunder, said Eatons Neck has failed to prove it has met the sales requirement. He also said the legal action is an effort to use a tax provision intended to help small New York farmers for what amounts to a hobby.

The "property is not actually a farm, but is in fact an individual's hobby -- something not entitled to an agricultural assessment," wrote Besunder in his final argument statement, filed Sept. 17 in State Supreme Court in Central Islip, as was the final statement by attorneys for Sandpiper.

Besunder also said the town has a responsibility to taxpayers who would have to make up the school district's revenue.

Santemma said the characterization that longtime tenant Laurie Landeau or Eatons Neck are trying to get a break for a hobby is "grossly unfair."

Suffolk County granted Sandpiper a place in one of its agricultural districts in 2012, and Asharoken passed a resolution last month allowing for agricultural operations in the village.

"We've always been a farm, but now that we have agricultural status in the village, we can be what we are and be proud of it," said Merri Ferrell, 61, manager of the property.

If Sandpiper wins, Gross said it would be another financial stressor for district taxpayers, who have heard many warnings from administration officials about financial challenges, including the state tax cap and projected declining enrollment over the next decade.

The district's largest challenge is the looming threat posed by a LIPA lawsuit disputing tax assessments on its Northport plant -- including an estimated $45 million annually for the school district.

"Taken in the context of our concerns about LIPA, it is essentially piling on in terms of the shift of the burden to the residential taxpayer," Gross said.

Presiding Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Bivona is expected to issue a decision before his retirement Dec. 31.