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Umatilla council overturns planning commission, approves UEC transmission-line siting
Summary
After hours of public testimony and legal guidance, the Umatilla City Council granted UEC's appeal and overturned the planning commission's denial of a proposed transmission line, ruling the site meets the municipal code criterion for site suitability; the ruling may be appealed to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
The Umatilla City Council voted to grant an appeal by UEC and overturn a planning commission decision that had denied a permit for a proposed transmission line, concluding the site meets the city's code requirements for siting.
City attorney David Peterson told the council the appeal was "on a quite limited grounds" and that the sole contested question before them was whether the site is appropriate under Umatilla Municipal Code 10-12-1(a)(4). Peterson said council should focus on physical-site factors such as zoning, access and parcel configuration rather than broader policy concerns.
UEC's land-use attorney, Tom Brooks, and UEC representatives argued the application record includes detailed routing analyses showing alternative routes and quantitative comparisons. Brooks told…
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