Commissioners consider pair of contested zoning changes

Yahoo

18-05-2025

The Rogers County Commissioners heard two controversial zoning requests at their Monday meeting, approving one and shooting down the other.
The approved request allows a Sequoyah-area family to put up a manufactured home on 1.05 acres of their 16-acre property; the denied request would have made way for a mini storage facility in a rural neighborhood just north of the Inola schools.
Both requests received at least one vote against recommending their approval when the Rogers County Planning Commission board considered them May 6.
Terri White and Tina Taylor had asked the county to carve 1.05 acres out of their RS-25 tract along 450 Road, just south of the Sequoyah schools. White, during public comment, told the commissioners she wanted to rezone the parcel to RST-40 so her son's family could move into a manufactured home there.
"We as a family want to make sure this land stays in the family," White said. "That's why we're doing this. My son wants to get out of the city life, be in the rural area where he was raised, and to raise his son."
White said her mother, Pat Sorenson, has lived in a house on the property more than 60 years.
Gene Haynes, a neighbor who sits on the Sequoyah Public Schools Board of Education, opposed the change. Haynes said it was difficult for him to speak out against a cherished Sequoyah community member — Sorenson is a library assistant at Sequoyah High School — but manufactured homes don't suit the neighborhood.
Most of the area carries agricultural or RS-25 zoning. An 8.45-acre RST-40 parcel sits around the corner from White's property, but Planning Commission Deputy Director Brittany Senters said that's too small for a manufactured home.
District 1 Commissioner Dan DeLozier, in whose district the parcel falls, made the motion to approve the change. All three commissioners voted to approve the change, which had passed the planning commission by a 2-1 vote.
"I respect everybody's opinion on this," DeLozier said. "I've really looked at this hard because I know the Hayneses well, and then I know the Sorensons and the Whites ... and how they take care of their properties. I can't say that this would be a bad thing in any way."
The Inola zoning change drew more opposition. Senters said she'd received several phone calls and emails urging the commissioners to reject the measure, and eight neighbors advocated against it the commissioners' Monday meeting.
The planning commission tied 2-2 on recommending approval.
Brian Miller of Inola had sought to convert his 3.65-acre parcel on East 590 Road from AG to C-2 to build a storage facility.
The neighbors who spoke Monday said Miller's proposed facility would lower their property values and clash with the pastoral setting. Others pointed out Inola's Vision 2025 Comprehensive Plan, which recommends only residential zoning in the area.
Neighbor Carrie Rochelle took to Facebook before Monday's meeting to encourage Inola residents to speak at the meeting in opposition. Rochelle said she'd moved to Inola two years ago in search of a pleasant rural environment, and a storage facility on East 590 Road would disrupt that harmony.
"We already have five separate mini storage facilities in the town of Inola, all within close proximity," Rochelle said. "We don't need a sixth. Inola is a small community that is beginning to grow, which makes it crucial that the growth is planned well."
Miller said he knows many of the people who operate Inola storage facilities, and they've told him they have little vacancy. He said real estate agents he's spoken to "respectfully chuckled" at the assertion that a storage facility would tank nearby property values.
"My wife and I, this is not something that we're looking to build and move and jump town and have some big corporation come in and take over," Miller said. "This is for ourselves, for our personal investment. We're investing in the community."
District 3 Commissioner Ron Burrows, whose district encompasses Inola, said though Inola is growing, that stretch of East 590 Road isn't ready for commercial development.
District 2 Commissioner and Chairman Steve Hendrix seconded Burrows' motion to deny Miller's request, but he said Inola residents should be prepared for growth. Hendrix said there are projections Inola could get as large as Owasso in the next 20 years as U.S. Highway 412 becomes Interstate 42, stimulating local economic drivers like Sofidel and the Port of Inola and creating more jobs in the area.
"People, I can assure you it's going to change at some point in time, however much you resist," Hendrix said.
Also at Monday's meeting, the commissioners accepted bids for its maintenance facility project.
The county is refurbishing an old auto repair shop on Cherokee Street to house the Rogers County Maintenance Department, which is vacating the Rogers County Courthouse as part of that building's remodel.
Stava Building will supply materials for $2,948.63, Cunningham Plumbing will do the plumbing work for $49,500 and COP Hometown Service Inc. will install the HVAC system for $34,157.
Justin Sessions of Lyle Building Group, the project manager, said the county received no valid bids for glass and glazing. But he said the cost of that work would be low enough that it could be added to the package at a later date.