Amish Man Built Barn Without Permit; Township Says “Tear It Down”
The Township calls this a “recurring issue”: people – it seems they mean primarily Amish people – building structures such as horse barns without following the rules.
The current matter involves a man in East Earl Township Earl Township* (Lancaster County, PA), reported a few days ago at Lancaster Online. *Corrected: the township in question is Earl, which is not the same as East Earl.
A zoning officer reported at a recent Township Board of Supervisors meeting “about a horse barn that ran afoul of the township zoning ordinance.” An Amish man had built “an unpermitted horse barn” on a residential property in the Township.
Two problems
It looks like there are a couple of issues in this case. The first is obvious, and I assume easy to check: the barn was built without a permit:
Typically, building a horse barn on a residential property in Earl Township would require an agricultural permit, something that the gentleman does not have.
It does not say whether he attempted to get one and was rejected, or just went ahead and built without one.
The second problem is that the horse barn was built without regard to setback requirements:
By ordinance, a horse barn must be 20 feet from the property line and 100 feet away from a dwelling. This horse barn sits 50 feet away from the property.
Perhaps that is why the gentleman didn’t acquire a permit, he knew he wouldn’t be awarded one for the building plan he had in mind.
The issue here, at least part of it anyway, is animal odor. People living in residential neighborhoods don’t expect to be living right next to manure-producing animals.
The report says that “Allegedly, a neighbor next to the horse barn property moved away because they did not want the horse and the smell that goes with the horse.”
A horse and what it produces is definitely not the smelliest of animals (I can think of several more much more foul), but that doesn’t negate the neighbor’s objection.
Land pressure leads to cutting corners
In places with the pressure of high land costs like Lancaster County, Amish people build on, or move onto smaller pre-existing residential properties and “Amishize” them.
Though a smaller, more affordable property in a residential area may be among the only options in places with high land costs, a typical Amish lifestyle – with outbuildings and a sizeable garden – still needs some space.
Nearly every Amish home is going to need a horse barn to keep their buggy horse(s) (though some older Amish people, especially living “in town” might in some cases not keep horses).
So you see this sort of clash, and this isn’t the first time. This same pressure leads to residents requesting allowances, for instance, to keep more than the allotted number of horses on a property – as in this case which drew objections from non-Amish residents.
The article notes that, along with another important observation about this particular case:
“…Amish settle onto residential properties, leading to complex issues when complying with ordinances. Neff noted that for a horse barn to have this much of a setback deficiency made this case unique.”
I don’t know how many get away with building horse barns or other structures without a permit, or violating setback rules. You’d assume some, or enough, do, and manage without getting caught.
It seems to me you’d need to see enough successful examples like that to decide to take the risk of investing a lot of money to build something without a permit…with the chance that the township is going to tell you to tear down tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of work.
It sounds like this particular person simply pushed the limits too far, given its large “setback deficiency” – at 50 feet, only half of what it was supposed to be.
What will happen here?
So what’s going to be the outcome here? Supervisor Robert Winegardner believes that the ordinance needs to be enforced here. He’s quoted as saying “If we do not make the violation costly and difficult, why pay attention to it?”
He believes the barn should be torn down. From one perspective that might seem wasteful, but if the person next door really moved away due to the smell, the Amish owner who built the barn imposed real costs on him, and he had no legal standing to do so.
The report also notes that “Currently, there is no legal standing for a variance.” A variance is essentially an exception to a regulation. It also says that “The zoning board would reject the application because it is not compliant with the ordinance.”
This may be a case where they need to make an example to deter others from violating this – and other township’s similar ordinances – or at least to deter people from violating it so blatantly.
Man Builds Without Permit
Hey, why not ask about a hundred other Amish guys to go over to the man’s property, pick up the horse barn and move it 50 ft?? Wouldn’t he then “be in compliance”?? I mean, we’ve seen Amish do this sort of thing before now. To tear the structure down would be a HUGE waste of time and money. Plus, he’d then have to get proper permits and put out even more money to re-build. To be sure, he SHOULD have obtained the proper permits from the get go.
Setback Requirements
Obviously, I don’t know anything more than is mentioned in the article. But if the neighbor already moved out, maybe the Amish man can buy all or part of the neighboring property. Maybe the landlord could let him buy at least 50 ft of the adjacent property, if not the whole thing, bringing him into compliance.
Let the barn be
And yet lancaster county allows people to spray toxic pesticides where your neighbor cannot breathe
I agree with SML!
Let this barn be at this instant.
Leave it alone
Townships/boroughs always have to get their grubby hands on and in everything. It is a horse barn not a business. And for those neighbors who moved away apparently they are not “true” Pennsylvanians or have lived in the area long enough to understand there are farm animals around. People are so soft anymore it is really pathetic.
Leave the barn alone….
Setback Requirements
Of all the comments here I think yours is the most agreeable and sensible. Tearing it down or moving it would require more time, money and/or effort than is necessary. Moving the property line makes perfect sense and if the guy is short of money perhaps his church could help him out.
Zoning
I don’t know what the procedures are in Pennsylvania, but here in New York, you first submit plans for a building permit. The building department would then reject it, as it doesn’t meet zoning rules. You then request a variance from the zoning board of appeals, saying why you think you should get a variance. Neighbors are allowed to respond with any objections. The zoning board of appeals then holds hearings to review all plans and objections, perhaps suggesting modifications to get around objections. I suspect PA has similar rules, and this guy just decided to ignore them. Would he have gotten a variance if he went through the process? No way to tell.
Horse Barn
There may be a Constitutional right involved here. This is their transportation.
They should be allowed to have a horse barn on any property in any zoning area that allows a car garage. As far as their own house setback distance, it should be no different than the distance a car garage has to be from their house.
They would still need to follow the same setback rules to their neighbor’s house and property line.
We need to remember that only a hundred years ago most people in town had a horse or two. Who thought about a horse “smelling” bad?
Fairness in English and Amish Worlds
Buggies should be licensed Rules are rules ..they use the roads .Lets be fair about concerning issues. Rules are rules to be obeyed.
Today
We live today, not centuries ago. We have laws, and if you want to argue a point, you do so before you put up a building. Yes, he broke the law. Yes they should enforce the law and make him tear it down.
Horse barn
If the barn is for a horse what the big deal people would complain if the horses are left outside in all kinds of weather .damned if you do , damned if you don’t
Its Lancaster, if you don’t want to be near horses move back to Philadelphia or New York City.
Honestly!
Let that man be! He deserves the house.
This township is a relatively rural area overall. Only about 6,700 people in an area of about 24.5 square miles. I don’t understand how someone could make the decision to live in a rural township, even if there wasn’t a heavy Amish population, then complain about animal odors. It just seems very asinine to me. Also I think there should be exceptions for the Amish, so they can live their traditional lifestyle, in a county that they have been living in for 265 years!
Research
I don’t understand why an Amish person would purchase a property on which they do not have room to keep their horse. He sould have dine his research.
They never said he couldn’t keep horses on the property, just that the horse barn wasn’t in compliance. Sounds to me like the problem is with the townships rules. If you can keep animals on the property then you should be allowed to build a proper structure to house them. Again it sounds like the problem is with the rules, maybe the township should change them so these people can live their lives.
It’s a garage! Problem solved
That would be really messed up to make him take it down. Give him a fine or whatever but taking it down that’s just mean.
Permission or forgiveness
This is the problem with the attitude that it’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. He’s about to learn an expensive lesson.
Let it be
We are losing more and more freedom in this country. Between local ordinances that often make no sense, to HOAs which should not be legal, it is stifling. Grant him a variance. Have him pay for such, and leave it alone. It is not a house, it is a barn. Insane to fuss this much about a barn.
If you doint like the way of life move back to your big city
My Wife lived in New Holland PA for over 22 years. Living amoung the Plain People was the greatest time of our lives. The problem is people from the big cities move to New Holland and want to change it. If they doint like the smell etc. Than move back to the big city. We called the smells farmers perfume.
Ps
You can use our neme