Amish finally win the right to follow their beliefs in Eau Claire County

The Amish may have a reputation for raising barns lightning-fast, but this project has taken 10 years.

It has taken that long for members of the Old Order Amish who want to build homes in Eau Claire County to complete the permitting process. The county refused to accommodate to their religious beliefs.

Members of the Old Order strictly adhere to Amish religious and cultural traditions, and they reject electric appliances, modern plumbing and other innovations.

The county welcomed the Amish when they first began settling in Eau Claire in the 1970s.

“Bridge Creek officials say that if the Amish hadn’t moved in and paid their taxes, the town would probably now be vacant,” State Rep. Kathy Bernier, R-Lake Hallie, told Wisconsin Watchdog. “They appreciate the Amish for taking over these little farms that were going bankrupt in the ’70s.”

The Amish still maintain good relations with Eau Claire’s people, but in 2005 their relationship with the county’s Department of Planning and Development soured.

That year the Uniform Dwelling Code took effect in Wisconsin, creating statewide standards for homes.

Mandating certain standards in electrical wiring, plumbing and requiring homes to have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the UDC had no provision for the Amish, whose religious beliefs require them to reject those things.

“It’s up to the local officials to decide how to enforce the UDC, and there are other counties in Wisconsin with much larger Amish populations that were able to accommodate them. But not Eau Claire County,” said David Mortimer, spokesman for the Eau Claire chapter of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom.

Wisconsin has the nation’s fourth-largest Amish population. It’s estimated 400 of the state’s approximately 17,000 Amish live in Eau Claire County.

“To ask a county to waive or to exempt someone from state code is an odd situation in and of itself. Nowhere else do we have the authority to waive or exempt someone from complying with state code,” Eau Claire County Planning and Development Department Manager Lance Gurney told Wisconsin Watchdog.

The county decided to fully enforce the UDC, regardless of religious objections.

The Amish felt unable to comply. Because the county’s permit for building a home required the applicant to agree to abide by all provisions of the state code, officials didn’t sign the forms.

“Some people suggested they just sign the forms and then ignore what they had agreed to. But they couldn’t. They consider that to be bearing false witness,” Mortimer explained.

The Amish believed the laws of God to be fixed, and the county regarded the UDC as equally inflexible.

Eau Claire began to take civil enforcement actions the Amish for UDC violations. Most of the actions cited failure to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

The county maintains those detectors are necessary to protect emergency workers responding to a fire at an Amish home.

“Emergency personnel need to have information so they know what they’re facing, otherwise we’re asking them to go in with blinders on,” Gurney explained.

Gurney did not explain why emergency personnel would need a smoke detector to warn them of a fire in a home already ablaze.

The county has taken civil enforcement actions against 13 Amish families, imposing daily fines, which the Amish refuse to pay.

“The daily fines for several families have gone into the six-figures,” Mortimer said.

In March, a circuit court judge ordered the eviction of an Amish family after finding them in contempt of court for refusing to comply the UDC and the permitting process.

“The judge ordered the eviction of Amos and Vera Borntreger and their six young children,” Mortimer said.

“Eau Claire County has the unfortunate distinction of being the only county in the United States that has used placard eviction to put an Amish family out of their home.”

By that time Bernier, who represents the county in the state Assembly, was already working on a solution.

“The Amish wrote letters to me in 2013 explaining their problems,” Bernier said.

“My gut instinct was to tell them to do what the planning officials say. But that was because I didn’t really understand their religious beliefs. Their home is also their place of worship. They believe that God is present in their homes and will protect them, so they don’t need manmade devices.”

The Amish also reached out to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, whose staff worked with Bernier on the issue.

EVICTION: In March, a judge ordered the Borntregers evicted from their home because of their refusal to follow the UDC.

“At the beginning of a meeting with Eau Claire County Corporation Counsel, she told me that if someone died in a fire in a house without a smoke detector, I’d have blood on my hands,” Bernier recalled. “I thought, ‘Wow, this meeting is not going to go well.’”

“There’s just an attitude there that I don’t understand. The Amish have lived the same kind of life since they arrived shortly after the Pilgrims. I don’t why anyone thinks taking a punitive approach is going to change them.”

Bernier said the attitude of county officials isn’t shared by the general public.

“I’ve had people stop me in the grocery store or come up to me in a restaurant to thank me for fighting for the Amish. The so-called English are in their corner.”

In 2014, Bernier introduced a bill that allowed for a waiver from certain provisions of the UDC based on long-standing religious beliefs.

This year, Bernier inserted the waiver provision into the biennial state budget. It was signed into law in July.

“The Amish were overjoyed,” Mortimer said. “They celebrated, as they do, with a pie and ice cream social. Senator Johnson and Representative Bernier attended.”

Under the new system, local officials can approve a religious waiver but can’t deny it. They can recommend the waiver be denied, but only the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Standards can deny it.

“We did it that way because I was sure Eau Claire County would reject waiver applications,” Bernier said.

In August, John Yoder became the first member of the Old Order Amish to apply for a waiver. The county recommended denial.

“In terms of complying with the state law, we feel the public interest is not being protected and all we can do is recommend denial,” Gurney said.

RELATED: Wisconsin signs on to religious liberty fight against Obamacare mandate

Explaining the recommendation, Gurney downplayed the issue of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, the focus of county enforcement actions.

“Other than the safety of the emergency responders we’re asking to put their lives on the line, are there other public health or safety issues? No, not really. It’s really more of an individual decision.”

“Our bigger issue on the waiver that was submitted is that now we have a religious exemption regarding wastewater treatment,” Gurney said.

Gurney speculated that granting waivers could lead the Amish to abandon their centuries-old practice of outhouses and dump sewage in an unsanitary manner.

Asked if the Amish had ever done this, Gurney responded, “We’re not in a position to know whether that is or is not happening. We have no ability to go out and verify what is happening.”

The suggestion that the Amish might start dumping sewage if granted a waiver shocked Mortimer.

“Doing that would go against their religious convictions,” Mortimer said. “The Amish have had outhouses since they came to Eau Claire County in ’70’s. There have been no problems with the Health Department. That’s the department that would deal with any sewage problem, not the Planning Department.”

Gurney said the law doesn’t limit waiver to just the Amish and others, possibly with more causal attitudes toward proper sewage disposal, could apply.

“Anyone can come and ask for a religious beliefs waiver for properly installing plumbing. We are supposed to trust that what they are telling us is true. We don’t have the ability to require them to show us religious documents that this is the case,” Gurney said.

According to Gurney, that’s why the county plans to recommend denial for all religious waivers.

DSPS doesn’t share Gurney’s concerns. This week the agency approved Yoder’s waiver.

The way is now clear for the rest of Eau Claire’s Amish families to get waivers, which will not only allow them to build new homes but will also eliminate outstanding fines and penalties for previous noncompliance with the UDC.

“He’s very eager to get started,” Mortimer said. “He wants to start building a new home for his growing family before the snow starts.”

Here’s a good piece on Amish hackers from several years ago.

http://kk.org/thetechnium/amish-hackers-a/

It really explains how they decide what technology to use or not use.

I don’t know if you followed this link.
Fascinating aricle about some, not so old order, Amish. Comments are equally fascinating.

http://kk.org/thetechnium/amish-hackers-a/

Fascinating article. Thanks for adding it to the thread.

One aspect they do not discuss here is the Amish problem of birth defects caused by centuries of in-breeding. They are addressing it (I understand) by a deliberate program of colonization.

IOW, a family from PA will send their sons or daughters to find a spouse in Indeiana, or WI to break up the pattern of finding spouses only in the community where they were raised. This also alleviates the problem of scarce farmland by spreading their colonies to other states.

I really enjoyed the discussions on technology.

YES! I did, last night and stayed up very late!
I also read the history at this link in the article. I've always been fascinated by the Amish since I was a little girl. My Dutch Grandmother had such love and admiration for them, so my interest was stimulated at a very young age. She grew up in a little Ohio town, that is no longer on the map, Clives or Cleaves, and all I know about it is that it must have bordered Pennsylvania because it was almost entirely Amish. (I did find and buy an old almanac for my father many years ago that showed that town, but after he died, I don't know what happened to it). Anyway, my grandmother was taught to knit and crochet by the Amish and also to cook and bake wonderful breads, rolls and cakes. I have her hand written recipes. Her cabbage rolls are the best. I must remember to locate that steel box "one of these days!!"

Also, when traveling by car around the upper midwest, you will often encounter groups of them traveling to town — young couples, etc. being driven in a van by an “English” chauffer. Especially in Ohio and Indiana. I’ve never visited Eau Claire, but I guess I should make a trip out there. We have a number of furniture stores around here that deal in Amish furniture.

My mother was into quilting. Thinking back, (just now) I guess it was her Mother-in-law (that same Grandmother of mine) who taight her “quilting”! I reckon she learned a lot from her Amish neighbors growing up in that small Ohio town. I remember that my Grandmother would sometime refer to people as “those English.” ...LOL ... and I would always laugh. My Grandfather was a barber, and they lived on Coronado, CA and when the Prince f Wales visited, he was summoned to cut his hair, I have his shaving cup and brush. I supposed it still contains his DNA. It’s very fancy and on the bottom it bears the gold seal of the Royal Palace or whatever it’s called along with the maker of the china.

I had an aunt who live in Coronado all her married life (except for time spent in Hawaii at the beginning of WWII.) Her husband was an Annapolis grad who died flying his plane over China. She taught school (music) in Coronado with her 2nd husband. They had an unusual house (for the time) with a living room where one wall was a giant, salt water, fish tank. It was built in the old Spanish sstyle, around an open to the sky courtyard, or patio. Her first husband’s brother was an architect and had designed the house.

Oh, lucky you. A new puppy. We lost our precious Golden Retriever to pancreatic cancer about the time I underwent a total knee replacement. (2 years ago) I have not replaced him because 1) he is irreplaceable and 2) my husband doesn’t want another dog. He thinks that I would be incapable of caring for a dog because of my limited mobility. I really miss a dog, however.

I love Goldens, but I’m not sure that I could handle another one.

Our most recent Golden was a rescue dog who was about 1 1/2 when we got him and was considered a “wild child” by the rescue organization. He grew into a very well behaved dog who NEVER barked and who went to work with us every day. He was very well mannered. At home we could just turn him out to do his business (we have 12 acres). He knew our boundaries and never wandered away. He was a very civilized dog and we traveled by car all over the country with him. He had a flat, rather than curly, coat and didn’t even shed as much as some. I shipped my piano to one of my daughters in NY a month ago and rearranged my living room and found a rawhide chew hiding under aone of the couches! A little rememberence of Max.

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