Portland General Electric expansion and taller communications tower approved in Oregon City

Portland General Electric won Planning Commission approval Tuesday for a multi-acre expansion of its Oregon City operations center that includes a new operations building, expanded covered storage and a roughly 95-foot communications tower near a cemetery.

Pete Walter, Oregon City planning manager, told the commission staff had "determined that all of the conditional use criteria have been met" for the proposal, and recommended approval with conditions that include noise limits and public-improvement requirements. Walter described the site as about 12.2 acres at 209 Warner Milney Road and said the project would modernize a facility that serves as a regional staging and dispatch center for line crews.

The applicant's team said the plan flips some campus functions so employee parking and administrative spaces sit on the street-facing east side while equipment storage and heavier operations are placed to the west, farther from residences. Ben Schberger, the land-use planner for the applicant team, and Theresa, the project architect, highlighted a shared-use path through the site, preservation of a small intermittent stream and retention of mature trees where feasible.

Josh, identified as a PGE representative, said the development would include covered parking for large bucket trucks with solar canopies and that the design is intended to increase operational resiliency during storms. "Portland General Electric is proud to have been part of the Oregon city community for over 75 years," he said, adding the project aims to improve emergency response and reduce downtime for crews.

Commissioners focused questions on several technical points. Staff confirmed the new code requires capacity for EV charging on 20% of new parking spaces (conduit and electrical capacity must be provided though not all chargers need be installed on day one). On lighting, staff said fixtures must meet dark-sky, full-cutoff standards and cannot exceed 0.5 foot-candles at the nearest residential property line. The applicant's traffic engineer said driveways and the planned signalized intersection have been sized and radiused for long line trucks and that the gate location was moved farther off the property line to allow truck queuing off the public way.

Neighbors' concerns were narrow in the record: one written comment about the east-side fence was reported; the applicant said they met with those neighbors and agreed to repair and rebuild sections of the fence. The applicant also said the east property line will include a wooden sight-obscuring fence where it abuts residences, while most of the perimeter will be secured anti-climb fencing that is not fully sight-obscuring.

The commission voted to approve the package of applications (listed in the staff packet as GLUA25057, CU2502, SP250145, PI2508, PARK25502), with conditions and the corrected noise and condition numbering staff noted during the meeting. Commissioner Lasal moved the approval; Commissioners Laws, Dole, Kamad and Anderson recorded their votes in favor; the motion passed.

Next steps for the project include final engineering, building and public-works permitting and compliance with the conditions of approval, including the noise limit measured at the nearest residential parcel. The applicant provided a construction schedule and staffing estimates during the hearing; final permit submissions must show EV-capacity details, lighting photometrics, and any required Right-of-Way improvements for Warner Milney Road.