Rosemary DiCandilo offers a perspective on Lake Oswego’s natural areas and builds a case to protect them from future City development in this week’s LO Review.
“You may believe our gorgeous Lake Oswego natural parks are protected from development. Our natural parks improve our quality of life and property values. They exemplify the sylvan character of our city. They provide solace to our souls and our beloved pets too. They even provide biological banks, of a sort, for an uncertain future. However, these areas are not fully protected. Even donated land that is supposed to be protected in perpetuity. When the third attempt in as many decades was made to develop Cooks Butte Park with a huge communications tower, citizens started investigating: exploring the nuances of the City Charter, parks plans and land use codes. As a result, they found our natural parks are not fully protected. Citizens now want to protect these natural places through the Lake Oswego City Charter so their use can only be changed by your vote. Lawyer-speak can turn something good into something bad, or vice versa, so let’s be clear.
First, please join your neighbors and sign the petition before Jan. 31, 2020 to get our community initiative on the May ballot, despite the somewhat misleading title, “restricts improvements in certain City park properties,” that was assigned. Because, yes, we DO WANT an initiative on the May ballot that “limits development” in our natural parks that is inconsistent and incompatible with preserving their natural conditions. Visit Love LO Parks for a petition.
Second, in the May election vote “yes” on our community’s measure to preserve Lake Oswego’s natural parks for residents, visitors and future generations and limit development in natural areas that are intertwined into the very fabric of our neighborhoods. You never know what those “City improvements” might be. “
Rosemary DiCandilo
Lake Oswego