Sagaponack Village Board Approves Regulations On Deer Fencing

Despite an outcry from farmers at last week’s meeting, the Sagaponack Village Board on Monday adopted legislation that clarifies what is needed from farmers when they apply for traditional 8-foot-high fencing aimed at preventing deer from devastating agricultural land in the village.

At last week’s public hearing, farmers packed Sagaponack Village Hall, saying the additional government oversight will put an unfair burden on them, and that the law’s lack of clarity opens the door to farmers getting sued.

The legislation was adopted on Monday without any modifications after the public hearing.

In the village, residential properties are prohibited from having deer fencing.

Under the law, only land that is in “agricultural production” can be permitted a special exception to have deer fencing. The legislation follows guidelines set by the State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which defines that land as “facilities and practices which contribute to the production, preparation and marketing as a commercial enterprise of crops.”

To measure these practices, applicants are required to demonstrate that there would be an economic loss with deer fencing, and show production schedules, business plan and gross sales to date, to name a few. If a land lies fallow for more than two years, the farmer would be required to remove the fencing, or the village will remove it and place a lien on the property for the cost.

Board members had stressed the importance of passing a law before a temporary moratorium on the processing or approval of any deer fencing applications, which is set to expire in December before the next growing season. In July, two applications came before the Village Board, which doubles as the Planning Board, requesting such fencing around two agricultural preserves to keep out deer.

Those pending applications will be now viewed by the board under the new regulations, and might need to be reworked.