How rattled are the masses?
VERY!
How disrespected, ignored, disenfranchised, delegitimized, and
marginalized are average citizens?
EXTREMELY!
You heard about it with the streetcar that only a developer could love, until citizens rose up and the Council put it on hold (but not yet forgotten) in 2012.
Ten percent or more of the population were outraged about unwarranted limits on their land use because of Sensitive Lands regulations (that no City Councilor or Mayor has had to deal with).
The Wizer Megablock development pit the background and experience of the DRC against the City Council and the neighbors went to court.
Average citizens have been fighting various land use plans, changing city codes, density and urbanization, city debt and the remarkable insensitivity of City Hall for some time, with no end in sight.
What's next? Plenty. 2016 will be another watershed year for changes to the city. Don't expect to see new building just yet - the city is currently laying the groundwork for the development they expect (and want) to come.
One of the most recent dominoes to fall is in the Rosewood neighborhood. Residents have taken a stand against plans for increased development in the SW Employment Area that does not protect the livability of their neighborhood. Their new website,
presents their case about increasing semi-truck traffic on residential roads. Increasing development has also brought major issues of stormwater flooding their hards, basements and septic systems. While many annexations have taken place over the years as development closes in on the few remaining large lots in the UGB, most of the Rosewood area is still part of the County. Lakeview Blvd. is in the city, but the residential land to the south is not. If it is difficult for other neighborhoods to get respect from the city, it is impossible for Rosewood to get attention for what must be major code and environmental violations. Semi-trucks and sewage in the streets? More intense development coming? More auto traffic taking shortcuts through quiet neighborhood streets? Parking for employees? Noise?
Hey! Maybe the developers and politicians want to build some ised use and move in. I know of a real estate broker in the area who will entertain offers for his land ... (he no longer lives in LO, he moved to Camas).
Visit the website - sign the petition. "Speak out now and help us block this love fest between the city and developers. Lake Oswego is our home and only we can protect it."
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