At the Nov. 10 Enid City Commission meeting commissioners approved a controversial livestock ordinance that eliminated the grandfather clause and drastically changed the way livestock animals are kept in Enid.

An outspoken opponent during that meeting was former city attorney Carol Lahman, a well-known animal activist. During Tuesday night’s meeting, she announced an initiative petition calling for a citywide election on the ordinance.

Lahman filed the petition containing about 500 signatures with the Enid city clerk Tuesday prior to the meeting. She said after the meeting she needed about 165 signatures for the petition to be valid.

Now, the signatures will have to be validated for the petition to be declared legal. Lahman told commissioners if the petition is legal the ordinance approved in November could not take effect until Enid voters have their say.

Under Oklahoma law, an ordinance can be brought to a vote of the people if a referendum petition with the required number of valid signatures is filed within 30 days of the passage of the ordinance, Lahman said.

Starting her remarks, Lahman apologized to commissioners for exceeding her time limit at the November meeting.

Lahman outlined what she said were a number of problems with the ordinance. Among her list of grievances is the agenda for that meeting did not provide notice to residents the city was considering terminating the grandfather clause and people who purchased multiple adjacent lots to accumulate acreage large enough for livestock would not be able to have livestock if the ordinance passed.

“The previous livestock ordinance merely recognized livestock as a use of property and allowed that use to continue, but not increase, and provided that the use would cease if abandoned for a year,” Lahman said in her prepared remarks.

The new ordinance terminates the use of property by declaring livestock a nuisance. By doing so, the ordinance removed the protection of lawful uses of land that are afforded under the law, she said.

Lahman also said a public meeting on the livestock issue will be 6 p.m. today in the Hoover Building on the Garfield County Fairgrounds. She invited anyone who is interested in the problem to attend and help find a solution to the issue.

Following Lahman, Laura Knauss told commissioners she personally obtained 65 of the signatures on the petition. She said she has had horses on her property for a long time, and as an educated horse owner she never had a problem with animals and her neighbors have not complained.

“It was sneaky the way it was done,” she said.

Former city commissioner Loyd Kaufman also spoke, asking how many people are covered by the ordinance and asked for their names and addresses. He also asked for the names of those people who exempted and the names of those who pushed for the ordinance.

City Manager Eric Benson told Kaufman he would have access to any information that is public record.