Milwaukie Bay Park

Serving as the city's front lawn, Milwaukie Bay Park is a beautiful amenity adjacent to downtown along the banks of the Willamette River.

For decades, the city has invested in making Milwaukie's waterfront an accessible, attractive and welcoming recreation destination for everyone. This includes the first two phases of park redevelopment that were completed in 2012 and 2015, respectively. For more information about the earlier phases of development, visit www.milwaukieoregon.gov/communitydevelopment/milwaukie-riverfront-park-0 (note: the park’s name changed from Milwaukie Riverfront Park to Milwaukie Bay Park in 2017).

In 2017, the North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District (NCPRD), which maintains, operates and programs Milwaukie parks through an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) adopted in 1990 and most recently updated in 2020, initiated a master planning process for phase 3 of Milwaukie Bay Park’s redevelopment. The city was an active participant in this NCPRD-led planning process. The resulting design included improvements, such as a splash pad, amphitheater, playground and more trees for shade. NCPRD also secured more than $2 million in grant funding for the project. For more project details, visit ncprd.com/milwaukie-bay-park-project.

Phase 3 of Milwaukie Bay Park has been on pause since 2022 due to disagreements between the city and NCPRD about terms in the IGA that describe the city’s role and rights as a member of the parks district. This delay jeopardizes the grant funding secured for the project. City Council recognizes this process has been confusing and there are many questions. For answers to some of the most frequently asked questions, please explore the FAQ section below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the City of Milwaukie plan to leave the North Clackamas Parks & Recreation District (NCPRD)?

City Council has not made any decisions to leave the parks district, and Milwaukie is currently a member of NCPRD.

In 2022, City Council directed staff to investigate the feasibility for the city to provide parks services in light of the challenges experienced with the Milwaukie Bay Park project, as well as concerns about deferred maintenance and investment in other city-owned parks. City Council passed a resolution to put a local option levy on the November 2022 ballot in place of the NCPRD tax currently being collected, but later withdrew that measure to give more time to assess options. City Council added a third goal related to parks in September 2022 to continue this assessment.

NCPRD's board of directors has expressed concerns that investment in Milwaukie Bay Park could become “stranded,” if the city were to leave the district in the future. The project IGAs adopted in 2021 and 2022, however, included language that already address these concerns. The city is willing to consider other measures as well, if the board will resume talks on the project.

Category: Milwaukie Bay Park

What is the city trying to do to restart the Milwaukie Bay Park project?

The city has sent several communications to NCPRD's board of directors (see below) to try to restart discussions about the park and continue making progress. It is the city’s position that nothing in the Validation Petition currently under consideration by the Court of Appeals precludes continued conversations about Milwaukie Bay Park. City Council is willing and eager to come back to the table and discuss new agreements that could see the park project continue, so the grant funding that has already been secured is not lost.

Category: Milwaukie Bay Park

Why is phase 3 of Milwaukie Bay Park construction on pause?

In 2020 and 2021, city staff and elected officials met with NCPRD staff, along with representatives from the NCPRD board of directors (who are also the Clackamas County Commissioners) to negotiate intergovernmental agreements (IGAs) for funding and constructing for phase 3 of Milwaukie Bay Park. The city quickly adopted these agreements in November 2021, with a June 2022 sunset clause to avoid price escalations. The board of directors removed the funding IGA from its agendas three times before approving it in March 2022, contingent on NCPRD and the city negotiating a new overall IGA that would change the terms by which the city could depart the parks district.

The existing IGA stipulates that the City of Milwaukie could choose to leave the district by a vote of City Council pursuant to ORS 222.524. The NCPRD board of directors contends this is no longer a valid term, and that ORS 198 is the applicable statute. The process defined in ORS 198 requires a petition to the board of directors to withdraw from the district.

The City of Milwaukie filed a validation petition with the court to provide a legal ruling on which process applies, ORS 222 or ORS 198. On May 16, 2023, a county circuit judge ruled that the withdrawal method agreed by the city and NCPRD in their 2008 IGA was beyond their legal authority under state law. The judge’s ruling states that the NCPRD board of directors must agree to allow Milwaukie to withdraw and refer the question to voters district wide. On June 21, 2023, the City of Milwaukie appealed the circuit judge’s decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The city is currently awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeals.

The Validation Petition is limited in scope to the very narrow question of whether the language in Section VI of the 2008 master IGA is valid. The petition does not reference Milwaukie Bay Park or a new master IGA, and a decision that affirms the 2008 language will not by itself result in the city’s departure from the district.

Category: Milwaukie Bay Park