Board adopts findings to allow 90 MW Fourmile Solar project on up to 450 acres
Loading...
Summary
After a public hearing, the board adopted Planning Commission findings and approved a Goal 3 exception and related comprehensive plan text amendment that clear the way for a 90 MW photovoltaic facility with optional battery storage on up to 450 acres; the decision includes decommissioning, vegetation management and other conditions.
The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners on March 18 adopted the Planning Commission's recommended findings and approved a Goal 3 exception and comprehensive plan text amendment for the proposed Fourmile Solar project, a 90-megawatt photovoltaic facility with optional battery energy storage and a permanent footprint of up to 450 acres within a 626-acre project area.
Planning staff summarized the request and the statutory criteria under ORS and OAR provisions that govern Goal 3 exceptions and amendments. Megan Dobchevski, the county planning division manager, told the board the Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the Goal 3 exception and the conditional use permit with precedent and subsequent conditions.
Tanner Gillespie of 1 Energy Renewables described the siting process, interconnection plans with Umatilla Electric Cooperative and Bonneville Power Administration, and engineering and environmental studies completed to date. Gillespie said the project footprint was limited to a 450-acre micrositing boundary within a larger tract under lease and estimated a projected annual output of about 140,000 megawatt-hours, with an earliest commercial online target of around 2028 dependent on utility upgrades.
Applicant counsel Elaine Aldridge and proponent Cameron Krebs said the project includes mitigation measures such as a decommissioning and financial assurance plan, vegetation/weed management with a solar grazing agreement and measures to avoid impacts to wetlands, habitat and irrigation-related soils. Landowner Tim Rust spoke in support, noting the family's farming background and willingness to accept the footprint.
After public testimony from proponents and no opponents on the record, the board voted to enter the applicant's PowerPoint into the record and adopt the Planning Commission's findings. The motion carried.
What it means: Approval of the Goal 3 exception does not finalize building permits; it allows the exceptions and text amendment needed for the conditional use permit to be valid and move the project toward permitting, engineering and construction phases under the conditions adopted by the Planning Commission and included in the record.
