Residents Raise Stink Over Amish Buggy Droppings

A controversy is brewing around an enclave of Amish residents over the mess their horses leave behind in the small town of Brown City located in Michigan’s “Thumb” area.

Mayor Christine Lee told The Times Herald of Port Huron she’s received a flurry of mail from across the state from people who claim they’ll no longer shop in Brown City if the city doesn’t require the Amish to clean up after their horses.

So be it, says Lee.

“If they don’t live in Brown City, they aren’t going to shop here,” she said. “Some of the letters were from elderly people and they talked about World War II and this and that and back then there were horses and all that stuff and they scooped the poop and put it in their flower gardens and had beautiful flowers.”

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Lee sympathizes with residents, according to an earlier report in The Times Herald, but officials want to reach a compromise because “they’re great for our community,” she said.

Still, “you’re supposed to pick up after your dog, (so) you probably should pick up after your horses, too; it’s common courtesy,” she said in September. “Would you want a pile of manure in front of your house?”

She’s waiting to hear from Bishop Daniel Yoder, the Amish community’s leader and a liaison with city officials, before asking the city council to consider a manure ordinance that would require the Amish to clean up after their horses, in much the same way that dog owners are required to scoop what their pets leave behind.

Diapering horses with so-called “buggy bags,” which are fit between the horses’ hind legs, is another option, but Yoder said such a contraption would spook the horses.

The letters also complain about marks left on roads by steel buggy wheels. A recent project for road improvements cost the city about $200,000.

“We’re pinching the budget as it is,” the mayor said. “You hate to put that much into the road and then you hate to see the roads being torn up by the steel wheels.”

Some leeway may be found in statutes that regulate the use of snow chains and tire studs because they damage the roads. “It’s against the law because it does chew up the roads ... and steel wheels do the same thing,” Lee said.

Pneumatic, or air-filled, tires are one solution, but Yoder said Amish eschew such modern equipment because they don’t want to become too comfortable with roadway travel.

Yoder reportedly said the Amish community would be having meetings on the issues, but the city hasn’t heard the outcome of those sessions.

If the city does impose restrictions, officials should proceed cautiously because First Amendment issues could come into play, especially if the city took action to restrict the steel-wheeled buggies on the city’s newly paved streets, City Manager Clint Holmes said.

“We obviously don’t want to ban the vehicles because they do business in town, but we also need to extend the life of our roads to the maximum extent,” Holmes said. “There are potential First Amendment issues as far as practicing religion, so we want to make sure we approach this in a way that works for both us and the Amish community.”

State law allows buggies on all streets except freeways as long as they’re properly equipped with a low-speed-vehicle triangles, but doesn’t address the manure issue.

The first Amish residents settled in the Brown City area in 1986 after leaving Iowa. There are about 65 Amish families currently living in the area.

Brown City isn’t alone in dealing with the manure issue. In August, the Village of Heuvelton in New York, where hundreds of Amish families live, were looking for solutions to the problem as well. In 2005, residents near Loyal, WI, raised questions about health hazards of piles of manure, which attract flies that can spread illnesses, the New York Times said.

Loyal’s experience suggest consequences could be severe if Brown City adopts a manure control ordinance. When officials in Loyal began debating the issue, some Amish residents boycotted businesses and withdrew their money from a local bank.

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Photo: chumlee10/Flickr