Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Sunday, October 28, 2007

Some Amish say state permits intrude on religion

By GEORGE HESSELBERG / Lee Newspapers

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — For professed non-minglers, the Amish here are popping up in a lot of conversations this fall.

A small group of conservative Amish who have built modest homes in the town of Albion west of here believe the “English” — anyone who is not Amish — are forcing them to violate their faith by requiring them to get state-issued building permits. The permits, at least one supporter claims, “yoke” them with unbelievers.

“We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And happiness is a house,” said Eric Gove, an Amish man and friend of several Amish homeowners who built their homes without building permits. “The idea that your friendly neighborhood building inspector can say you can’t live in this building just because he says so, well, we’re not interested in that.

“The simple answer would be to leave us alone,” he said.

For the town’s elected leaders, the few Amish who don’t believe in building or driveway permits are creating a bureaucratic nightmare, complete with misinformation campaigns, threats of legal action and heavy fines, and antagonism directed at the town’s building inspector.

“They think we’re picking on them, and we’re not; it doesn’t matter to me who they are,” said Rod Stenulson, the town’s building inspector.

“Someone is going to end up in court,” said Terry Schmidt, zoning administrator for Jackson County.

Out of compliance

The state requires building permits for all new one- and two-family homes before they can be built and certified by inspection before occupied. The permit means an inspector will check on the plans and assure the structure meets minimum safety standards.

The problems in Jackson County began in July, when the town of Albion sent letters to seven Amish men — two of whom did not actually live in the town and who were later dropped from the action — giving them 14 days to get appropriate permits. Non-compliance could lead to fines of as little as $10 and as much as $1,000 per day.

One of the letters was sent to Benuel L. Stoltzfus, who, like the others, was accused of building a house without a permit and of failing to acquire a driveway permit. He did not respond.

Another letter was sent Sept. 14, notifying a lawsuit had commenced and requesting relief in the form of fines and an order to keep Stoltzfus from “inhabiting the property.” They all had 20 days to respond.

On Oct. 10, Stoltzfus’ handwritten letter arrived. It said he had received a complaint from the town “alleging that my family and I are illegally residing in my family home. I do not understand.”

He is not alone.

The Uniform Dwelling Code, administered by the Commerce Department, is the law of the land in Wisconsin — no exceptions. If you want to build a house, you submit plans and get a permit before you build. The rules apply in the town of Albion, which has employed Stenulson, a town resident, as the building inspector. He is also the certified building inspector for nearby Trempealeau County and for other towns.

Fair is fair, says inspector

Stenulson, who said he has supplied Amish builders with code books and graphing paper at his own expense, said he is being criticized for doing his job fairly.

“They are saying it’s because of their religion, but to me it’s not,” Stenulson said of the objections he has heard from some Amish. “What people are saying is that it sounds like we are picking on them, but if I have to buy a new permit when I build, everyone else does, too.”

Terry Schmidt, the Jackson County zoning administrator, said most of the Amish in the county eventually get necessary permits.

“It can be a negotiation process, ‘If this, then this,’” he said.

A few in the town of Albion however, have created headaches for the local leaders, especially Robert Wyss, the town chairman.

He is flustered, he said, by the amount of misinformation going around.

Some have accused the town of requiring the Amish to put in paved driveways, or electricity and plumbing, conveniences most Amish eschew as contrary to their beliefs. Others say the town is using the permit requirement as a money-maker.

“I haven’t a clue about how that kind of stuff gets started,” said Wyss.

Wyss likes the Amish as neighbors and residents. “They build off the road, back and out of the way, they’re a quiet bunch of people and that’s fine if they want to be left alone. I say let them live the kind of life they want to live. There are few rules they have to follow, but other than that I don’t care how they live,” he said.

“What we seem to have here, is a crossing into an area where they don’t want to compromise,” he said.

The objections

Gove would agree with that. Like many of the Amish in Albion, Gove, 37, has lived here fewer than three years.

“Most of the Amish have gotten building permits, there is no objection to getting a building permit,” he began.

“But there are things a permit requires that we can’t do with a free conscience,” he said, adding that he is “not a spokesman” for all Amish.

Those include “granting a right of inspection,” because the inspector “goes places where he has no business going. We have a right to be secure and safe on our premises,” said Gove.

Some also object to signing the permit, Gove said, because it creates a binding contract but doesn’t provide “full disclosure,” meaning the way remains open for the “English” to change it.

He cited a verse from the Bible, in 2 Corinthians, that is a dictate of the Amish faith: “be not unequally yoked together with non-believers.” A permit, he said, is seen by some as creating that sort of bond.

By punishing the Amish for not getting a permit, the town is “compelling people to contract under threat and duress,” he said.

Gove’s view is that the few Amish who refuse to get permits should not relent, even though other Amish from different groups in the area have no problem with the requirement.

“Why should we give, if we are right?” he asked.

Their plight has drawn support from some residents, who questioned using the full force of the town’s resources against a few recalcitrant farmers.

“English” advocates for the Amish, Catherine and Stephen Dal Cerro, have written letters of support. Catherine Dal Cerro said Friday a meeting has been tentatively scheduled with a contractor to help the Amish navigate through the code book. Such an informal resolution might be acceptable to all, town officials suggested.

Who’s at fault?

Schmidt blames the state for what he called an unworkable, unfunded enforcement process.

“It becomes a state issue when the state passes the law that says all one- and two-family homes must meet UDC codes and must be inspected by a state-certified building inspector, and then they do not back it up with the proper enforcement procedure,” Schmidt said. “If the law is passed and it applies to all, then it must be enforced for all. And that is not happening at this time.”

The state, however, does not see it as a problem, according to Larry Swaziek of the Commerce Department, where he is program manager for the Uniform Dwelling Code.

He acknowledges, however, that because of the 2003 code changes, called the Home Safety Act, “probably what is happening now with enforcement is that across the whole state we are approaching more individuals out there (who) were not regulated before.”

The solution to that is letting people know their buildings have to be inspected and get permits before they build, something that has led to increased diligence by zoning officers, who admit they are probably not discovering every violation.

He said there hasn’t been a large issue with Amish resistance to the code.

“The district attorney may say that they have more important things to work on, and if we feel that is a real issue, then we will ask the Justice Department to address it.”

George Hesselberg is a reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison.