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Measure 3-618

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The Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve along Childs Road where Clackamas County seeks to acquire up to 17,424 square feet for a road improvement project — impacting 5 substantial fir trees and loss of protected wildlife habitat.

OUR POSITION

The LoveLOParks Steering Committee will be voting “NO” on Measure 3-618.

Not because we don’t support road safety improvements for Stafford Road (we absolutely do!), because Clackamas County and the City of Lake Oswego have failed in their due diligence to consider viable design tweaks or reconsider other traffic safety options that avoid the charter-protected Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve and their unwillingness to consider community feedback to protect the Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve from all development inconsistent with preserving it as a natural area (as expressed by the voters intent in ratifying Chapter X – Park Development Limitation of our City’s Charter in November 2021).

While Measure 3-618 would give the city the authority to amend Chapter X, this measure DOES NOT set out the actual amendment language for voters to consider. Voters should never vote on amending their city charter without having access to the exact and explicit legal language — without knowing the language, voters do not know what they are agreeing to; as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

BACKGROUND

Anyone who has driven Stafford Road from Overlook Drive in Lake Oswego to I-205 can acknowledge this corridor can get congested, especially during peak traffic hours, making entering and leaving Childs Road and Johnson Road difficult and dangerous.

Clackamas County's design for a roundabout to address increasing traffic and safety at these intersections was completed earlier this year. However, Clackamas County failed to ascertain the legal availability of additional land needed for their finalized design and ignored the City of Lake Oswego's Charter protections that restrict development on Nature Preserves. Specifically, Lake Oswego's ~28 acre charter-protected Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve, and more specifically, a ~4.5 acre parcel of Stevens Meadow (formerly known as the Stevens Homestead) that was conveyed by the Stevens family to the City of Lake Oswego in 2019 with a 20-year conservation easement that also restricts such development.

Despite numerous concerns and inquiries from the community, Clackamas County has not offered any substantive evidence that the roundabout's design can not be altered to avoid the charter-protected Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve entirely and thereby protect: (a) our natural areas from development as expressed through Chapter X, (b) 5 substantial fir trees slated to be removed, and (c) the displacement of wildlife who call these 17,424 square feet home.

Nor have Clackamas County nor the City of Lake Oswego engaged with the Stevens family, after many requests, to address their concerns with respect to the 2019 conservation easement agreement.

Clackamas County has been largely dismissive to the protections Lake Oswego voters and the Stevens family have enacted on the Stevens Meadow Nature Preserve.

While a roundabout is one traffic option, it is not the only option for these intersections. Alternatives, such as traffic lights, lowering speed limits and/or additional signage haven't been satisfactorily addressed. Instead of bringing all parties to the table, the City of Lake Oswego and City Council have chosen a hands-off approach by forwarding Measure 3-618 to voters.

To be clear, Measure 3-618 is not seeking voter approval for Clackamas County's Stafford road safety project as the measure's ballot caption and question so misleadingly imply:

Caption: Allows Road Safety Project, Driveway Realignment on Specific Park Property

Question: Shall Lake Oswego amend the Charter to allow Clackamas County to improve road safety using 0.4 acres of Stevens Meadows?

The City of Lake Oswego has placed Measure 3-618 on the November 5, 2024 ballot to seek voter approval for amending Chapter X - Park Development Limitation of the the City's Charter to utilize up to 0.4 acres (or 17,424 square feet) of the Steven's Meadow Nature Preserve for an otherwise unauthorized use -- the Stafford Road Improvement Project and park maintenance access realignment.

In drafting Measure 3-618, the City of Lake Oswego did not formally engage with Clackamas County to consider design tweaks, did not seek citizen involvement, and did not consider significant community feedback. Nor has the City shared the intended amendment language in the measure text; the Staff Report to City Council explicitly stated they are delaying the actual legal text until AFTER the vote - "If the voters approve the measure, the Charter Amendment must be drafted after the election, and neither the ballot title nor the explanatory statement will include proposed amendment language." This seems misleading and undemocratic.

Furthermore, Measure 3-618 would not resolve the 2019 conservation easement's development restrictions -- those restrictions would still be in place. It is unclear even if Measure 3-618 passes whether the County would be lawfully able to circumvent the Stevens conservation easement.

As a community, we must continue to challenge our leaders to do better at protecting our natural environment from development, especially the Nature Preserves voters have chosen to enshrine their protection and preservation as paramount into our City's Charter. The LoveLOParks Steering Committee supports sensible safety improvements along Stafford road but doesn't believe Stevens Meadow needs to be sacrificed. We'll continue choosing to protect Lake Oswego's Nature Preserves from development inconsistent with preserving them as natural areas.

The choice before you, the Lake Oswego voter, is whether the County (and City) have done their due diligence to convince you there are no other alternatives but to destroy a piece of nature we've fought to protect and preserve for future generations. Once taken, it's gone forever. The choice to protect Stevens Meadow is in your hands.

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