Title
First Reading of Ordinance No. 18-1013, Designating the Property Known as Park Place Park as a Park Under Oregon City Charter Chapter X
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 18-1013, Designating the Property Known as Park Place Park as a Park Under Oregon City Charter Chapter X.
BACKGROUND:
The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC) was established in 1983 by the City Commission to advocate for recreational opportunities for Oregon City and to oversee implementation of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. To ensure recreational opportunities are preserved in Oregon City, the PRAC has undertaken the review of the charter park status of all Oregon City parks which are owned and managed by the Oregon City Parks and Recreation Department.
Oregon City owns thirty-six parks, eleven of those are identified in Section 42 of Chapter X of the City Charter making them charter parks. Two more parks (Abernethy Creek Park and Jon Storm Park) were added to the charter through the provisions outlined in Section 43, which allows charter park designation through ordinance adoption. Identification in the City Charter ensures park protection by preventing the transfer, sale, vacation or major changes to charter parks without a legal vote of the people.
Of the remaining twenty-three non-charter parks, the only recreational park east of Hwy 213, Park Place Park, was obtained by the City in 1994 with additional land being acquired in 2002. The Park Place Master Plan was adopted in 1995 as a plan for the long range development of the property and the 1999 Parks Master Plan identified Park Place Park as a partially developed neighborhood park. Adoption of Ordinance No. 18-1013 will designate Park Place Park as a park under Chapter X of the City Charter and ensure protection of the land as a park.