Claremore teens fighting zoning decision

A zoning dispute puts a pair of Rogers County teens, Ashley and Emmalee Lujan up against the Rogers County Planning Commission. <br><br>The girls raise animals and as members of the Future Farmers of

Sunday, February 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A zoning dispute puts a pair of Rogers County teens, Ashley and Emmalee Lujan up against the Rogers County Planning Commission.

The girls raise animals and as members of the Future Farmers of America, have won lots of awards. But as News on Six reporter Steve Berg explains, the city says the animals must go. Ashley Lujan, Future Farmer of America, "I guess they just don't want us to be here, they don't like the appearance of the animals across from the big new housing addition."

Ashley and Emmalee Lujan say they can't understand it. For 17 years she and her family have lived in the countryside north of Claremore. And for the past several years, they've raised animals for FFA shows. But recently, they say a neighbor started complaining, and then this week, they got this letter from the county Planning Commission that said the land was zoned residential, and gave them a month to get rid of the animals. Emmalee Lujan, Future Farmer of America, "I don't want to give my little cow up, I fed him ever since he was little so I don't want to give him up. (laughs)."

The girls say the neighbors complained about the smell. But on this day, there was no noticeable odor. And the girls say that's always the case. Ashley Lujan, "We even brought the city folk out here with the untrained nose and they couldn't smell anything." The girls believe it's a case of culture clash.

Rogers County is growing fast. And many new arrivals are relatively wealthy. Whereas the girls quite simply are not. To make matters worse, they say they've invested $3,000 of their money to raise the cows. Ashley Lujan, "We don't have a lot of money, and what money we do have, my parents try to better our lives by putting us in activities that we feel we can accomplish a lot in, and FFA is actually one of those." Emmalee Lujan, "I just think they don't like the country, and we were here before them, and I love animals so."

The girls say they've tried to compromise. They've already reduced the number of pigs. And moved them farther away from their neighbors' property. They say other people in the area have cows and horses, but for some reason, they believe they're being singled out. The girls say the family checked on the zoning before and each time, were told it was zoned "agricultural."

The mayor of Claremore says he's looking into it. The Planning Commission's deadline in just weeks away, weâ€™ll keep you updated.