Two land-use appeals have been filed challenging the Hillsboro Planning Commission's approval decision. Tualatin Riverkeepers are accepting donations to fund the legal fight, and with your help we can win this!
Why we Appealed:
- Air quality and noise assessment were not performed.
- Land use application did not meet the approval criteria.
- Public Notice was not sent to impacted residents.
- Important documents were withheld.
Hillsboro Planning Commisison
On Wednesday May 27, 2026, at the Hillsboro Planning Commission hearing, City staff instructed the Commission that they were not allowed to consider air quality, noise pollution, or carbon impacts in their land use decision, because those issues are under federal jurisdiction. After a long hearing and a convoluted deliberation, the Commission voted to approve the Sky Harbour hangar proposal, with one abstention. The commission found that the negative impacts of the development were not sufficiently minimized or mitigated and they added a condition of approval to require a 6’ solid wall to be built to protect the Brookwood Library from jet blast. We don’t think the commissioners understand just how big these ultra-long-range jets are. The jet engines on a Bombardier Global 7500 are 14 feet above ground level.
One commissioner did remark that the public comments received were “almost overwhelming” so thank you to the community for making that happen. At 10am on the day of the hearing, the city had s till not released the last 11 days of public comments, so we requested a continuance to give the commissioners more time to review. An hour later (at 11am) the city released a partial batch of public comments, but ultimately the commission did not grant the continuance. The hearing is closed and the next step is an appeal to the Hillsboro City Council.
Appeals Filed
On June 17, 2026, two separate land use appeals were filed in the City of Hillsboro. Our appeal, submitted by Aloha resident Sarah Richmond, Tualatin resident Brett Hamilton, and Tualatin City Council President Valerie Pratt has been assigned case number APPEAL-002-26. Another appeal, lead by Miki Barnes with eight additional appeallants, has been assigned case number APPEAL-001-26. Hillsboro city staff are recommending that both appeals be heard together at a combined "de novo" public hearing on August 18th. Council will be making a decision about this recommendation on July 7, 2026. Big Thank You to all who donated and to the Tualatin Riverkeepers for managing the donations to make this possible. With your help, we can win this!