Clackamas County judge calls for removal of barriers at Oswego Lake

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Portland suburb has just a few months to remove some of its barriers impeding public access to a local lake.

According to an order issued on Monday, the City of Lake Oswego is now banned from enforcing policies that exclude access to Oswego Lake from Millennium Plaza Park. Clackamas County Circuit Court Judge Kathie Steele gave officials 120 days to get rid of obstructions like boulders and metal reeds.

The city is also required to remove exclusionary signs, such as those that read “Private Lake” and “No Trespassing” on public property, within 30 days.

“Defendant City of Lake Oswego and Defendant Lake Oswego Corporation are prevented and enjoined from erecting, creating, or maintaining any other obstacles or conditions designed to prevent or discourage the exercise by the public of the right to reasonable access and use of Oswego Lake from Millennium Plaza Park,” Judge Steele wrote.

The order additionally prohibits the city and Lake Oswego Corporation, a group of homeowners in the area, from restricting public access through any future development.

This comes after a years-long saga involving who should have access to the lake.

Todd Prager, a Lake Oswego resident and planning commission member, and Mark Kramer, a non-resident described as a “long-time enthusiast of paddling,” sued the city and LOC in 2012. The complainants argued that local policies deemed the lake as private property violated the state’s “right and obligation to protect the public’s use of the State’s navigable waterways or navigable portions of waterways.”

About a decade later, Clackamas County court ruled the public has the right to access the lake. Although residents were permitted to use it during the summer, a local ordinance still prohibited people from entering the property through Millennium Park Plaza, Sundeleaf Plaza or Headlee Walkway to swim or boat.

It wasn’t until November 2024 that Judge Steele ordered Lake Oswego to remove the pre-existing “no access” sign and withdraw the ordinance against entering the lake.

The order established that officials can no longer prohibit entrance from Millennium Park Plaza, but they still have authority regarding the other two access points.