Thursday, May 15, 2008

New York Town Transfers Enforcement of Building Codes Against Amish to State

In the face of possible lawsuits by the Amish community over building code enforcement against them, the town board of Conewango, New York yesterday voted to opt out of code enforcement and turn enforcement over to state authorities. Thus any lawsuits will be filed against the state and not against the town. Yesterday's Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal reports that the Amish have concerns about both some of the substantive code requirements and about the mandate to furnish workers compensation insurance to those hired to help with the construction.