Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor
Lake Oswego Review, September 25, 2014

Too late for Wednesday night's fiasco, but worth reading.



Excerpts:

... It would be detrimental to our community to allow the Wizer Block to be developed in a manner that is inconsistent with our local values and our city building codes.

Jacqueline Kyle

Lake Oswego

We love living in this area and the small town/village feel. The Wizer proposal does not fit.

We strongly oppose using any tax dollars for this.

Kelley Lomax and Jim Smith

Lake Oswego

Last Saturday morning, on my way to the farmers market, I encountered a woman with a clipboard who stood on the sidewalk on First Avenue in the Wizer Block. The woman was canvassing in favor of the proposed development of 207 apartments plus retail space. She presented herself as wanting to live there.

Then I learned from a friend that this canvasser was actually a well-known political consultant. I returned and asked her if she was being paid to do this work, and she answered, “I am working for the developer, yes.”

People who live in Lake Oswego should know that paid operatives are presenting themselves as concerned citizens, while our unpaid friends and neighbors are donating their own time and money to oppose this massively out-of-place apartment complex.

The paid consultant suggested to me that opposition to the project is just a case of “NIMBY: Not In My Backyard.” I disagreed and can site several reasons for opposing it: increased traffic congestion, parking problems, cost to taxpayers, the opaque design, inadequate space for new businesses and restaurants, constant turnover of residents and more.

No, our opposition is not a case of “NIMBY.” It is our front yard that we are trying to protect.

Diana Petty

Lake Oswego

USC NOTE:  I can't imagine Elaine Franklin giving up her views of the Willamette River from her Dunthorpe home to be crammed into close quarters with hundreds of other souls in Kessiville and having only one parking space - if she's lucky.  When the Kessi Team speaks, what should a prudent person listen to or believe?  

I don’t want a huge apartment complex destroying the aesthetics of our town. I don’t want to trip over hundreds of people and their dogs. I don’t want to fight the traffic or have to fight for a place to park. I am not opposed to growth and development, just not in downtown Lake Oswego. If the project passes, I will seriously consider leaving Lake Oswego.

I am greatly opposed to the Wizer project and think that it would be a huge disservice to our beloved town.

Diana Harrell

Lake Oswego

This seemingly innocent project threatens not only the future of our Millenium Park, so long awaited and achieved, but also our beautiful views of Mount Hood and our relative peace and tranquility. We are a small city of neighbors. The desire to live in such a bucolic small community is what brought us all here. Let us remain a small village that rejoices in small things.

Please, let this be the end of it. Reject the planned development of Block 137.

Margaret Harkson

Lake Oswego

It does not take an understanding of the city code to recognize that First and Second streets and A Avenue could not support the number of proposed apartments.   It affects every resident who likes to frequent the heart of downtown, not just the nearby neighborhoods. Instead of drawing residents to the center of town, the traffic that would ensue from the apartment density would cause many to avoid the downtown area. 

Carol and Bob Mason

Lake Oswego

Many Lake Oswego residents are vehemently opposed to the potential Block 137 development near Millennium Park, as well they should be. It would destroy the livability of our downtown and flagrantly disregards existing city development guidance, so I oppose it.

The Development Review Commission rejected this development because it was too massive in scale and out of step with the area’s village character in August. The project violates Lake Oswego Urban Design and East End Development plans.

This complex would dwarf the existing retail shops in Lake View Village and the rest of downtown Lake Oswego. It would result in traffic and parking issues which would transfigure our quaint town into yet another overdeveloped urban nightmare.

Matt Cutts

Lake Oswego