HomeMy WebLinkAboutG-614 Pang 12-18-2023 Current Planning Public Comments and Testimony
Please fill out the form, below,to submit written comments on a pending land use application or an appeal
of a tree removal request.All written comments and materials are due by the deadline listed on the Notice.
Written submittals received by the deadline will be entered into the public record of file and will be
considered by the decision body. Contact the staff coordinator listed on the Notice if you have questions.
Case Number* Please see Notice for correct LU or tree appeal number.
LU 23-0002/AP 23-04:A request for an RP District(wetland) Unavoidable Crossing
to Install a Sewer Line and Serial Lot Line Adjustments.
If you do not see your case here the comment period is not open. Please check back
later.
Case Number- LU 23-0002/AP 23-04:A request for an RP District(wetland) Unavoidable Crossing
Verification* to Install a Sewer Line and Serial Lot Line Adjustments.
Please re-select your case number to ensure it routes to the appropriate case.
First Name* Jamie
Last Name* Pang
Address Street Address
Address Line 2
City State/Province/Region
Postal/Zip Code
Email* jspang.lclark@gmail.com
Stance:* r Support
C' Opposition
f Neither for nor against
Please type your comments below,or you may upload a PDF of your comments. If you have other media types, please
contact planning@lakeoswego.city to coordinate its addition to the public record.
Comments Dear Development Review Commission,
I am a constituent.
I oppose LU 23-0002 and request the DRC deny LU 23-0002 on the legal premise
a sewer line through Waluga Park-West is unlawful with the voter-approved
Nature Preserve provisions in City Charter Chapter X-Park Development
Limitation.
These are the facts:
- I voted for Measure 3-568 to prohibit all development that is inconsistent with the
preservation of Lake Oswego's Nature Preserves as natural areas.
- Under Article XI,section 2, of the Oregon Constitution:"The legal voters of every
city and town are hereby granted power to enact and amend their municipal
charter,subject to the Constitution and criminal laws of the state of Oregon[.]"
- Under Article IV, Section 1(5),of the Oregon Constitution: "The initiative and
referendum powers reserved to the people by subsections(2)and (3)of this
section are further reserved to the qualified voters of each municipality and district
as to all local, special and municipal legislation of every character in or for their
municipality or district."
-Both Article XI, section 2,and Article IV, Section 1(5)of the Oregon Constitution
give municipal power to city voters not cities, leaving it to the voters to decide what
their city governments can do.
-Lake Oswego voters exercised their Oregon Constitutional right to amend the
City Charter to"insure all development within a Nature Preserve is consistent with
the preservation of a Nature Preserve as a natural area"with citizen initiative
petition 20201N-1 and the resulting citizens' Measure 3-568 ratified on November 2,
2021,with a 62%majority vote.
-Lake Oswego City Code is preempted by the powers and limitations granted by
voters' in the City Charter;therefore,the voters'provisions in Chapter X-Park
Development Limitation take ultimate precedence and the Community
Development Code is preempted.The City and Deputy City Attorney's
unsubstantiated opinions that Chapter Xis not land use"standards and criteria"
has no legal standing,and they do not have the authority to overrule the voters'
amendment.
-Chapter X Section 41 -Purpose. Mandates the City to liberally interpret the
chapter to preserve Nature Preserves as natural areas. Per Senate Bill 100, Goal
5 Natural Resources, Scenic,and Historic Areas and Open Spaces defines
"preserve"to mean"save from change or loss and reserve for a special purpose."
-Chapter X, Section 42-Definitions.Waluga Park-West is designated a Nature
Preserve owned by the voters'to be managed or maintained to retain its natural
condition and prevent habitat deterioration.
-Chapter X Section 43-Limitations on Development. Enacts 8 non-hierarchical,
standalone voter mandatory provisions for Natural Preserves:
(a) Provision 1 mandates the City insure all development within Waluga Park-
West is consistent with the preservation of Waluga Park-West as a natural area
available for public enjoyment,
(b) Provision 3 mandates the City, and any person, not to construct roads in
Waluga Park-West,
(c) Provision 3 mandates the City,and any person, also not to cut trees to
construct any roads in Waluga Park-West, and
(d) Provision 8 exempts ONLY park master plans for a Nature Preserve adopted
before November 2,2021.The City's sewer master plan is preempted by Chapter
X and therefore invalid.
-On November 2, 2021,the Mayor, City Council, and City staff failed to
acknowledge the impact Measure 3-568 and Measure 3-575, being voted upon
that day,would have on a sewer line through Waluga Park-West when directing
City staff and tentatively approving Ordinance 2874 and, subsequently,the newly
ratified Chapter X when unlawfully approving the ordinance on March 17,2022.
-The Mayor, City Council,the City Attorney,the City Manager, City staff, and the
DRC serve the City's owners,the voters', and do not have the authority to overturn
the voters'decision to amend the City Charter to preserve Nature Preserves as
natural areas by allowing Waluga Park-West's wetland destruction and loss of
natural habitat.
-There is nothing temporary about cutting 14 trees and clearing a 17'x 525'
section of natural habitat in Waluga Park-West for heavy construction vehicles to
trench and install a sewer line for a private property owner.The ecological impacts
and deterioration of the aesthetic qualities contradict everything the voters'
intended by amending the City Charter to retain and preserve their Nature
Preserves.
-The Development Review Commission is commissioned by City Council, not City
staff,and is bound by all Federal, State, and local statutes, laws, regulations,
provisions and ordinances.Voters' hold the ultimate owner of authority and have
not given their voter approval to the City for the development proposed in Waluga
Park-West.The City's press release on November 2,2021,on the passage of
Measure 3-568 confirms and acknowledges that"Any future property-specific
changes will include voter approval."
The development application LU 23-0002 sewer conditions are invalid and unlawful
by Chapter X and the application as conditioned must be denied.
Sincerely,
Jamie pang
Sent from my iPhone
Jamie Pang (South)
JD, Lewis and Clark Law School, 2014
Cell: 858-699-4153
File Upload PDF format only