Petition with 1,300 Signatures Presented to County Board

Written By: Micah Cooley and David Mortimer  |  Posted: Tuesday, September 22nd, 2015

            On August 26, John W. Yoder submitted to Eau Claire County what may be Wisconsin's first Application for a Religious Waiver of certain provisions of the building code. Mr. Yoder has been waiting to build a home for his Old Order Amish family, and he has wanted to get the foundation and walls completed before winter, but the County refused to approve his request.

   The religious waiver, recently created by legislation, was designed to allow Amish families to comply with Wisconsin's modern building code without violating their centuries-old beliefs. The new form was designed to help the Amish avoid fines, court dates, court-ordered eviction, and risk of arrest.

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