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Springfield, Lane County planning commissions recommend code and plan changes to enable EWEB Willamette treatment plant
Summary
On March 17, 2026, the Springfield and Lane County Planning Commissions voted to recommend amendments to the Glenwood Refinement Plan and Springfield development code to allow high‑impact public utility facilities—clearing the way for a proposed Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) Willamette River treatment plant to proceed to site‑specific review.
SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — The Springfield and Lane County Planning Commissions on March 17 recommended concurrent amendments to the Glenwood Refinement Plan and the Springfield development code that would allow "high‑impact public utility facilities" — a policy change EWEB said is needed to enable a proposed Willamette River treatment plant in Glenwood.
Staff framed the request as a narrow, textual change that would not approve any project but would permit such facilities to be contemplated and then subjected to site‑specific land‑use review and environmental permitting. "This is merely a textual amendment," Andy Limbert, project planner for the application, told the commissions. "The specific project will come back before the planning commission with design and operational details."
Why it matters: EWEB officials said the utility currently relies on one 75‑year‑old treatment plant and a single river source and that a second modern plant would improve regional water resiliency. "Having only one source of water does put us at a significant risk," said Karen Kelly, EWEB chief water operations officer. EWEB…
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