Hermiston council directs staff to pursue urban growth boundary amendment to target hyperscale data center sites

City officials in Hermiston moved Feb. 24 to begin the formal process of expanding the city’s urban growth boundary (UGB) to create large industrial parcels suitable for hyperscale data centers.

Consultants told a council work session that Hermiston’s 2024 economic opportunities analysis (EOA) found a shortage of large, contiguous industrial sites—specifically a deficit of nine 100‑acre parcels the analysis says are typically needed for hyperscale data centers. At the regular meeting later that evening, the council approved a resolution directing staff to prepare the paperwork required to initiate a UGB amendment.

The consulting team said the EOA identifies 1,200 acres of buildable industrial land needed over the next 20 years to meet forecasted employment demand, and that the city currently lacks parcels larger than about 40 acres inside the existing boundary. Jesse Winroad of Winroad Planning said the city must follow Oregon’s land‑use priorities and that “the first priority is urban reserve, which Hermiston doesn’t have any, and exception lands,” meaning the analysis must begin with land that is already listed by the county as non‑farmland or…