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We’ve been working through the extensive and complex land use permitting process for the filtration site since 2022. The ongoing land use process has caused significant delays and cost increases for the Filtration Project. Learn more about the process and how it affected the project.
We are building a new filtration facility to treat water from the Bull Run Watershed, Portland's primary drinking water source. We're also building new pipes to connect the facility to our water system.
The facility is being built on City-owned land on Carpenter Lane in eastern Multnomah County. The site also includes an emergency access road in Clackamas County.
The facility site on Carpenter Lane is zoned by Multnomah County as Multiple Use Agriculture–20 (MUA-20). Through zoning, a local government can limit or regulate what land can be used for in specific zones. In the MUA-20 zone, community service uses like the filtration project are allowed with a County conditional use permit.
Before approving a conditional use permit, the County determines whether the proposed use complies or can comply with specific approval criteria in County Code. To prove that the filtration project meets those approval standards, we had to go through a land use review process. We also needed land use approval from Clackamas County for the emergency access road.
Land use permitting is a typical step for infrastructure projects throughout Oregon. However, the land use process for the filtration project has been unusually long and complicated. We faced multiple appeals from project opponents.
The process caused significant schedule delays and cost increases for the filtration project.
- The slow permit approval process delayed the start of construction by nine months.
- The required construction pause during the land use remand process delayed the construction schedule by another seven months.
- These delays significantly increased project costs.
- Our land use permits also include conditions of approval. These conditions increased project costs by requiring additional work and limiting our ability to work faster to make up for the delays.
Land use timeline
Key milestones in the land use process include:
- 1975: The City of Portland purchased the Carpenter Lane property to use for future water system facilities due to the property's size, proximity to existing pipelines, and ability to maximize gravity flow.
- 2018: City Council selected the Carpenter Lane property as the site for the future filtration facility.
- 2019 to 2022: We completed planning and design work required for our land use permit applications. This included numerous studies to ensure we met or exceeded the approval criteria in County Code.
- October 2022: We applied for Multnomah County land use permits.
- January 2023: We applied for Clackamas County land use permits.
- November 2023: Both Multnomah and Clackamas Counties approved our land use permits.
- December 2023: Project opponents appealed Multnomah County's decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
- April 2024: We received the building permits for the facility.
- June 2024: We broke ground on construction.
- January 2025: LUBA issued its decision on the appeal and remanded (sent back to Multnomah County) one item related to the County's definition of natural resources. LUBA affirmed the County's findings that all other approval criteria were met.
- February 2025: We paused construction during the remand process.
- June 2025: Multnomah County reapproved the land use permits, concluding that the project "will not adversely affect any category of natural resources."
- July 2025: We restarted construction.
- July 2025: Project opponents filed a second appeal with LUBA.
- February 2026: LUBA issued its decision affirming Multnomah County's reapproval of the land use permits on remand.
Multnomah County land use application process
When deciding where to build the filtration facility, we used six key criteria to evaluate the options. We considered zoning and permitting as part of that process. We evaluated six possible locations, but Carpenter Lane was the only one that met all our criteria. In 2018, Portland City Council officially chose Carpenter Lane as the site for the facility.
Between 2019 and 2022, we completed extensive work to prepare our land use applications. Our land use applications were particularly complex:
- The project required 23 separate land use applications.
- We had to submit a design that was nearly 90 percent complete. Typically, designs only need to be 60 percent complete for land use permit applications.
- Our application was nearly 400 pages and included 2,300 pages of supporting technical documents.
In October 2022, we submitted our land use application to Multnomah County. Before approving a land use application, the county follows a multistep process. That includes both county planning staff review and opportunities for public input.
For the filtration project, the land use process took much longer than usual.
- After a land use application is complete, Oregon state law requires counties to issue a final decision within 150 days. For this project, it took 275 days to receive a final decision approving our land use permits.
- After issuing their final land use decision, Multnomah County requires additional review before they will allow issue building permits to be issued. This review typically takes no more than 30 days. For the filtration project, this review took an additional six months.
In November 2023, Multnomah County approved our land use permits. We received our building permits in April 2024.
The complex approval process took about nine months longer than we had planned. This delayed the start of construction from 2023 to June 2024.
Land use appeals process
In Oregon, county land use decisions can be appealed, or challenged, at the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). Anyone who participated in the county's proceedings can challenge a county land use decision at LUBA. Projects of this size are often appealed to LUBA.
First land use appeal
In December 2023, Multnomah County's initial decision approving the project was appealed to LUBA. During the appeal, we were legally allowed to move forward with construction.
The appeal was complex and lengthy. Eleven parties filed a total of seven briefs covering dozens of arguments. We spent significant time responding to the arguments and working through the appeals process.
In January 2025, LUBA issued its decision on the appeal. LUBA affirmed the County's decision on all items except one. LUBA remanded (sent back to Multnomah County) one item that related to the County's long-standing definition of the term "natural resources."
We had to pause construction in February 2025 when the remand process started.
Land use remand process
Multnomah County Code requires a finding that conditional uses like the filtration facility "will not adversely affect natural resources." The County had used the same definition of "natural resources" for many decades on other projects. Despite that, LUBA determined there were legal issues with the County's definition of "natural resources." LUBA required the County to redefine "natural resources" and then use that new definition to consider whether the filtration project met the approval criterion.
The remand proceedings took nearly five months and included another public hearing.
In June 2025, the County Hearings Officer reapproved our land use permits. After redefining natural resources, the officer found that the filtration project would "not adversely affect any category of natural resources."
With our land use permits reapproved, we were able to restart construction in July 2025.
The remand greatly affected the project schedule and cost.
- We had to pause construction during the remand proceedings. This required a complete construction pause for four and a half months during peak construction season.
- During the pause, crews were laid off and equipment was sent to other sites. It took time to bring them back to the site and restart work.
In total, the remand process delayed the construction schedule by seven months.
Second land use appeal
In July 2025, Multnomah County's decision reapproving the project on remand was again appealed to LUBA.&
In February 2026, LUBA upheld Multnomah County's reapproval of our land use permits. Our land use permits have now been approved or affirmed three times. However, responding to the continuing legal challenges requires significant time and effort.
Opponents have the option to appeal LUBA's latest decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Another appeal of the land use permits would increase costs and could further delay a project that has been repeatedly approved—one that is essential to providing safe, reliable drinking water for communities throughout the region.
Land use conditions of approval
Our land use permits include many "conditions of approval." These are requirements added during the land use review process. The conditions of approval made the project more costly and complex.
Some of the conditions increased the project's scope by requiring extra work. These include:
- Improving pavement on local roads that are used by project construction traffic
- Restoring agricultural soil after the new pipelines are installed
- Restoring and improving wildlife habitat and Johnson Creek aquatic habitat
Other conditions limit how and when we can work. These include:
- Restrictions on work hours
- Limits on the amount of construction vehicle traffic to and from the site
- Restrictions on when we can perform pipeline construction work on county roads
These limits mean the project takes longer to finish. That increases expenses for labor, equipment rentals, and site management.
Looking forward
Despite many challenges, we remain committed to our communities and finishing strong with the construction of the project.
Federal drinking water regulations require us to treat our water for Cryptosporidium. We are building filtration to comply with these regulations.
Filtration is also a critical investment in our region's water future that will help us deliver safe, delicious drinking water for generations to come.