In 1993, the City Council adopted a Neighborhood Planning Program to provide neighborhoods in Lake Oswego an opportunity to develop a vision and corresponding goals and policies relating to land use, building and site design and capital expenditures. The Neighborhood Planning Program was designed to go beyond the general guidance provided by the Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, in order to address more localized and specific neighborhood needs.

The Old Town Neighborhood Association has had goals and policies since 1982, when the City adopted the "Design District" zoning for the area. It was realized that as the neighborhood transitioned from a medium density, primarily single family area to higher density with a broader range of allowed housing choices, that existing lower density uses would need protections. These safeguards included, at the time, review by the Development Review Commission (DRC) of all exterior modifications needing a building permit, additional setbacks for new structures when abutting lower density uses and encouraging good architectural design and site planning.

Since 1982, these policies have been periodically updated. Changes made in 1996 focused on recognizing how the neighborhood had evolved over the past fourteen years and addressed residents’ concerns about the time and expense involved in processing simple additions and remodels of existing homes. Changes were made limiting review by DRC to new structures, rather than all exterior modifications. At that time, it was also recognized that simply encouraging "good architectural design" was not adequate to ensure that new development would be compatible with the design and scale of the existing neighborhood character.

The Neighborhood Association Board responded to this concern by appointing a seven-member Design Subcommittee to develop draft design standards for general neighborhood association review. This group began by identifying several housing architectural styles in the neighborhood that it felt provided the "village" atmosphere that it desired to preserve. City staff worked with the neighborhood to come up with three "Old Town Styles" which new buildings could "borrow" from to create desirable new residential design. Since the neighborhood contains one of the highest concentrations of pre-1900 buildings in the City, the scale and style of these structures was a primary consideration. The purpose of the resulting standards is to "develop a cohesive and orderly relationship between existing and proposed buildings in the Old Town Neighborhood by providing visual connections defined by the predominant architectural characteristics of the Old Town Styles. Copying the existing building styles is not the intention of these guidelines. While a new development may have a distinctive identity, its overall effect should support and reinforce the Old Town Styles."

Other changes adopted in 1997 included allowing the City Manager to request an advisory opinion from the OTNA Board, allowing a reduction to the front yard setback along Durham

Street to support the overall intent of making Durham the neighborhood’s primary "walking street," limiting the amount of impervious surface allowed on a lot, reducing the allowed height of structures under certain conditions and requiring application of the Design Standards for new development or expansion of structures by more than 50% floor area.

The Neighborhood met at three general meetings to discuss the proposed Design Standards and other Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Code and Development Code and Standards changes. The Board and/or Design Committee met 10-12 times to discuss the proposed changes. The membership voted to support the proposed amendments with several minor changes.

The Old Town Plan contains several sections:

The Old Town Neighborhood lies between State Street, the Willamette River, Oswego Creek and Leonard Street. Although geographically one of the City’s smallest neighborhoods, it is the location of the original town of Oswego, and is the oldest portion of the City. Old Town contains several different types of land uses, including George Rogers Park, multi-family and single family dwellings and an array of shopping provided by two nearby shopping centers, within an area of less than 40 acres. Platted in 1851 by Albert Durham, the streets carry the names of people associated with the early iron industry such as Ladd, Leonard and Wilbur, as well as early settlers, such as Albert Durham, who founded the community.

George Rogers Park is located in the southern portion of the neighborhood. This area was the original site of the iron smelting business which operated in the community in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. A portion of the company’s large basalt chimney still stands in the park. Several small dwellings from this era also remain, constructed by the Oregon Iron and Steel Company for its employees. The Odd Fellows Hall at Durham and Church streets also dates back to this early period.

Maintaining the neighborhood’s character has been a concern of residents, particularly over the past 20 years. As the area’s zoning allows for approximately 20 units per acre, single family homes have gradually been replaced by apartments, duplexes and other types of more dense housing. Often new structures and remodeling have not been compatible in scale, form and massing to the existing housing stock. This has lead the neighborhood to develop Comprehensive Plan policies and design and zoning standards to ensure that the neighborhood’s transition to higher density occurs in such a way that the desirable "village" appearance is preserved.

The mix of uses in and near the neighborhood, its proximity to good transit service on State Street and its location near George Rogers Park, make Old Town an attractive place to live. Although residents view these facilities and uses as valuable assets, they at times result in conflicts with residential uses in the neighborhood, primarily with regard to traffic and parking.

Old Town would like to retain its generally narrow streets and few remaining alleys to discourage auto through-traffic and provide opportunities for alternate access to garages. The neighborhood would also like to encourage the use of Durham Street as a walking street by connecting sidewalks, restricting truck usage and maintaining appropriate lighting.

The Old Town of the future will likely posses a higher level of activity due to the increased usage of commercial outlets, a gradual move to higher density and increased park usage. The favorable elements outlined in the preceding paragraph will be integrated to ensure increased walking, rather than driving, within the neighborhood; ensure new structures that complement the existing neighborhood fabric; protect lower density developments from more intense adjacent uses; and minimize the visual impact of garages.

The Mediterranean style George and Lottie Rogers House (1929), is a focal point in the Old Town Neighborhood. George Rogers owned and operated a grocery store on State Street for over 20 years and served on the City Council for many years. In 1961, the City named a 27 acre park, also located in the neighborhood, after him.

According to the Adopted Lake Oswego Comprehensive Plan, Goals, Policies and Recommended action Measures each have a different purpose in terms of describing policy direction. Old Town members and City staff need to keep in mind the purposes of various types of statements while developing the Old Town Neighborhood Plan language. In a nutshell, Goals are to be in the broadest terms, usually a broad description of what the neighborhood is striving for. Policies are more specific, but not so specific as to be like decision making criteria (which would belong in an ordinance or standard). Recommended action measures are simply "good ideas" and are not obligatory. The following is excerpted from the Plan:

Definition - A general Statement indicating a desired end, or the direction the City will follow to achieve that end.

Obligation. The City cannot take action which violates a goal statement unless:

Definition - A statement identifying Lake Oswego’s position and a definitive course of action. Policies are more specific than goals. They often identify the City’s position in regard to implementing goals. However, they are not the only actions the City can take to accomplish goals.

Obligation - The City must follow relevant policy statements when amending the Comprehensive Plan, or developing other plans ordinances which affect land use such as public facility plans, and zoning and development standards or show cause why the Comprehensive Plan should be amended consistent with the Statewide Land Use Goals. However, in the instance where specific plan policies appear to be conflicting, the City shall seek solutions which maximize each applicable policy objective within the overall context of the Comprehensive Plan and Statewide Goals. As part of this balancing and weighing process, the City shall consider whether the policy contains mandatory language (e.g., shall, require) or more discretionary language (e.g., may, encourage).

Definition - A statement which outlines a specific City project or standard, which if executed, would implement goals and policies.

Obligation: Completion of projects, adoption of standards, or the creation of certain relationships or agreements with other jurisdictions and agencies, will depend on a number of factors such as citizen priorities, finances, staff availability etc.

The City should periodically review recommended action measures to determine which are a priority to be accomplished in view of current circumstances, community needs and the City’s goal and policy obligations.

These statements are suggestions to future City decision-makers as ways to implement the goals and policies. The listing of recommended action measures in the plan does not obligate the City to accomplish them. Neither do recorded action measures impose obligations on applicants who request amendments or changes to the Comprehensive Plan.