How Can We Work Together to Balance Public Access and Neighborhood Livability at George Rogers Park?
- Derrith Schmidt
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
George Rogers Park is one of Lake Oswego’s most valued public spaces. But during the summer—especially on hot evenings and weekends—the park regularly exceeds its parking capacity. As a result, Old Town becomes the overflow parking lot, creating significant impacts on neighborhood livability, safety, and access.
Over the past year, the Old Town Neighborhood Association (OTNA) has worked collaboratively with the City to address these concerns. We appreciate the progress that has been made and want to recognize those efforts.
Progress We’ve Made Together
Increased Parking Enforcement
Community Service Officers and Lake Oswego Police have significantly increased patrols in Old Town during peak summer periods. Illegal parking citations are being issued, and officers have been responsive to non-emergency calls as well as proactive on high-demand days. This enforcement has helped, and we appreciate the City’s partnership.
Parks & Recreation Improvements
Parks & Recreation implemented two OTNA recommendations:
Added designated drop-off and pick-up spaces in the lower George Rogers Park lot.
Installed an air pump station for paddleboard inflation in the lower parking area, reducing setup activity on neighborhood streets and sidewalks.
These are practical improvements that directly address neighborhood concerns.
Tennis Court Repairs
The tennis courts were repaired this spring. While we appreciate the effort, the repairs appear to be failing after only a few months. We understand the original repaving plan was reduced due to budget constraints. We hope the City will review the quality of this work and ensure repairs meet expected standards. Perhaps the work was done with a warranty? Hope so.
Related blog post: https://www.oldtownlakeoswego.org/post/refreshed-tennis-courts-reopen
Safety Improvements on Furnace Street
After repeated requests in May 2025 and May 2026, the City installed no-parking signage on Furnace Street between Ladd and Wilbur.
This section had become a dangerous bottleneck for:
Two-way vehicle traffic
Pedestrians walking in the roadway
Cyclists navigating narrow space
Residents entering and exiting driveways
This was an important step toward improving safety and improving livability for neighbors living there.
What Still Needs to Be Addressed
At our June OTNA Board meeting, we identified several priority areas where additional City action is needed to restore livability while preserving public access to George Rogers Park.
1. Reevaluate the Alder Creek Rental Program
We remain concerned that Alder Creek rentals continue to operate at George Rogers Park during peak summer months, despite existing overcrowding and parking shortages.
We request:
Full transparency regarding the City’s agreement with Alder Creek, including contract terms, renewal dates, and revenue.
Data on how many rentals originate from Lake Oswego residents versus non-residents.
Ongoing reporting for the 2026 season to evaluate program impacts.
Given current capacity constraints, OTNA does not support renewing this contract in 2027 without substantial parking mitigation.
2. Distribute Recreational Use Across More Parks
George Rogers Park should not carry the entire burden of river recreation access.
We recommend the City actively promote alternative launch sites, including:
Roehr Park
Foothills Park
This should include:
Better signage from the parking lot near Foothills and the commercial buildings
Public education campaigns
Paddleboard launch information
The goal is not to discourage use—but to distribute it more sustainably.
At the same time, we ask the City to stop marketing George Rogers Park as a “destination park,” as its infrastructure was never designed for that level of regional demand.
Parks & Rec, please put together a practical plan to share with OTNA about how you will distribute visitors to the three river access Parks in LO this summer and next summer.
3. Limit Picnic Shelter Rentals During Peak Weekends
We continue to request suspension of picnic shelter rentals near Furnace Street from Friday afternoons through Sunday evenings during peak summer weekends.
This is a high-impact use period, and existing parking demand already exceeds available capacity. This request was first made in May 2025 and remains unresolved.
4. Create a Summer Traffic Management Plan
The City needs a formal summer management strategy for George Rogers Park.
We recommend:
“Parking Full” signage at key neighborhood entry points
Coordination between Police, CSOs, and Park Rangers
Real-time capacity monitoring
Share the data from Placer AI (or whatever organization is now being used by Parks & Rec) to identify the number of people coming into GRP May - August and the percentage of those people who are from LO. Use this data to manage the park.
Share the data on the number of tickets given in Old Town May - August.
Traffic flow planning for 2027
Other cities routinely implement seasonal traffic plans for popular recreational destinations. Lake Oswego should do the same.
5. Revisit the 2002 George Rogers Park Master Plan
Many of today’s issues were identified more than 20 years ago.
We ask Parks staff and the Parks Advisory Board to review the 2002 Master Plan, which anticipated:
Traffic congestion
Parking shortages
Circulation conflicts
Neighborhood impacts
Many proposed solutions were never funded or implemented.
This is an opportunity to revisit prior planning work rather than start from scratch.
Neighbors who worked with the City on Master plan, suggested:
Work with the State to ask for a left-hand turn on southbound State Street onto Green Street to reduce traffic into the Old Town neighborhood.
Review option of closing Furnace Street down to GRP. One of our neighbors who was involved in developing the Master Plan in 2002 brought copies of maps from 1867, 1920, 1936, 1947, and 1956 that showed Furnace Street not continuing to the park. The 2002 proposed plan anticipated the very issues we are having and did not extend Furnace Street into the Park.
See this blog post about the 2002 Master Plan:
6. Explore Residential Parking Protection
Old Town deserves a clear answer: At what point does a neighborhood qualify for parking protections?
We ask City leaders to define objective criteria such as:
Occupancy rates
Complaint volume
Safety impacts
Emergency access concerns
Spillover frequency
Potential solutions could include:
Weekend/holiday resident permit parking.
Two-hour limits for non-residents.
Better enforcement of existing rules.
Real-time “parking full” signs and messaging.
A seasonal shuttle from a remote parking area.
These strategies are widely used in communities facing similar recreational demand Old Town and the area around George Rogers Park and they are far less expensive than constructing new parking.
What Other Communities Have Done
Lake Oswego does not need to invent solutions. Cities like Bend, Hood River, Cannon Beach, Ashland, and Lake Tahoe have addressed similar challenges through:
Resident permit systems
Timed parking restrictions
Paid parking
Shuttle systems
Capacity-based closures
Seasonal enforcement
Better wayfinding
The common lesson is simple: When demand exceeds capacity, managing access is often more effective than expanding parking.
Our Questions for City Leaders
OTNA asks:
What objective criteria would trigger a residential parking protection program?
Should GRP be expected to absorb their own parking demand before neighborhoods do?
Would the City support a pilot permit district around George Rogers Park?
Would the City support seasonal enforcement funded by park-related revenues?
Moving Forward
OTNA wants to continue being a constructive partner with the City. We support public access to George Rogers Park. But public access must be balanced with neighborhood livability, safety, and infrastructure realities.
We believe practical, tested solutions exist.
The question is no longer whether this problem exists. The question is whether Lake Oswego is ready to manage it.
Before investing so much time and money in developing Foothills Park, please consider what funding is needed to maintain and update George Rogers Park.
See the photos from these related blog posts:
What GRP is like in the summer:
Roehr Park for paddleboarding:
The 2002 Master Plan for George Rogers Park
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