Town Takes Santa's Christmas Tree Farm To Court

SOUTHOLD, NY — Days before Christmas, Southold Town has taken Santa's Christmas Tree Farm in Cutchogue to court.

New York State Supreme Court Judge William Rebolini signed a temporary restraining order on Dec. 19 against Santa's Christmas Tree farm for "maintaining a farm stand structure on the property . . .exceeding 3,000 square feet in total floor area," and for allowing third party vendors, including but not limited to those selling candles, jewelry, beef jerky and pickles, both in violation of Southold town code, according to the temporary restraining order.

The restraining order restricts the business from operating in a space greater than the allowable 3,000 square feet and from allowing third party vendors until a court date of Jan. 2, 2019.

According to attorney Joshua S. Schteirman, an attorney with Devitt Spellman Barrett, LLP, special counsel to Southold Town in the case, the property, located at 30105 Route 25, comprises a total of 25.5 acres, with with an 8,064 square retail building and private residence.

On Nov. 20, his affirmation states, a written complaint was received from a "concerned citizen" that the owners were allegedly operating a farm stand larger than what's allowed under town code and allowing for third party vendors, some of which were promoting their presence via social media; a further complaint alleged that they were utilizing nearly all of the square footage for commercial purposes, the affirmation states.

Southold Town Code Enforcement Officer Michael Chih said in response to the complaints, he visited the business on Nov. 25, Dec. 4 and Dec. 9 and found a farm stand that exceeded 3,000 square feet; he calculated the area used to be 3,300 square feet, he said. He also said in an affidavit: "Specifically, I observed commercially manufactured ornaments which contain 'Made in USA' stickers on them, commercially manufactured Christmas lights, handmade wallets and purses, miniature Santa village, pre-packaged toys and candles, artificial trees and wreaths. I also observed the presence of third party vendors selling candles, pickles and beef jerky, which were not produced by the farm stand operator." He also said that 75% to 80% of the merchandise sold was non-agricultural products, not grown by the farm stand operator, according to the affidavit.

Southold Town code requires that at least 60% of the gross dollar value of all items sold at the farm stand consist of agricultural items grown by the farm stand operator in the Town of Southold.

Chih visited the premises on three different dates, and, making the same, "nearly identical" observations, issued appearance tickets to the owner present, the affidavit said.

In an interview with Patch, Southold Town Attorney Bill Duffy explained why the town commenced litigation: "We believe the property owner left the town with no choice," he said. "In response to a complaint filed with the town we conducted an investigation which revealed numerous violations at the property, including but not limited to, the expansion of the retail well beyond what had been previously approved as well as third party vendors at the property. The expansion of the retail was especially concerning because it leads to health and safety concerns, such as whether the area being used for retail is safe for the public to be in as well as traffic and parking concerns," Duffy said.

And, Duffy noted: "Similar violations were noted last year and the owners were given verbal and written notice that they were in violation of the code. The owners chose to ignore those violations. This year, when the violations were discovered, the owners were issued a set of summonses. The owners chose to ignore those summonses and continue with business as usual."

On each of the occasions that code enforcement officers visited the property, they "found the same violations being committed and each time the owners were issued summonses, which they continued to ignore. Based on the owners' refusal to comply with the town code, the town had no other option than to commence litigation and seek a restraining order against the owners," Duffy said.

Anthony Palumbo, attorney for Santa's Christmas Tree Farm, said: "We are working with the town to alleviate any concerns; however, the farm is open for business and looking forward to Christmas and the remainder of our holiday season."

Santa's Christmas Tree farm has been on the market since early 2018; the current asking price is $2.499 million.

For years, the property has held Christmas memories for many. In 2017, co-owner Evans Edson shared his memories of his family's legacy with Patch. The land was purchased in the 1960s, with the first tree planted by Edson's father Lew in 1982. In 2013, Evans and his sisters took over the business.

"We have families who have been coming here for close to 30 years," Edson told Patch, adding that many of the initial customers brought their own children for the holiday experience.

Members of the Edson family could not immediately be reached for comment.

Patch photo by Lisa Finn.