Judge rules public access must be granted for Oswego Lake, but Lake Oswego Corporation says it will appeal

Todd Prager was a planning commissioner for the city of Lake Oswego in 2011 when he discovered that  the body of water that defined their community was in fact not a private lake, but rather a navigable public waterway. He says no one seemed to want to act on this information. The city went in the opposite direction, passing an ordinance in 2012 that barred the public from “trespassing” to the water from the three lakeside public parks. That’s when he decided to file a lawsuit. He and co-plaintiff Mark Kramer said that the lake should be accessible, just like other navigable bodies of water in the state.

After more than a decade in and out of five different courts, a Clackamas County circuit judge ruled that Prager and Kramer were correct, and ordered the city to provide access to the lakeshore Millennium Plaza Park. The Lake Oswego Corporation, which represents the interests of many owners of high-value homes has said it will appeal the decision granting access. For its part, the City of Lake Oswego has said it will take a “deliberate and thoughtful approach in assessing next steps” and will hold a meeting to gather public comment on March 31 at 6 p.m.

Prager joins us to tell us why he’s persisted in this legal battle for so many years. We’ll also hear from Jeff Ward, the general manager for the Lake Oswego Corporation about what he thinks is at stake in the case and why the company is appealing.