Benton County announces dates for public hearing on appeal of landfill decision
Benton County has scheduled a public hearing before the Board of Commissioners for the appeal of the decision to deny expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 22 with a planned continuance on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 5:30-10 p.m. at the Benton County Fairgrounds Auditorium, 110 SW 53rd Street in Corvallis.
The County’s Planning Commission denied Republic Services’ application to expand the landfill in a decision adopted on July 29. The applicant filed an appeal of that decision on Aug. 12. Appeals of Planning Commission decisions are heard by the Board of Commissioners.
The hearing will include presentations by the County’s Planning Division and the applicant, followed by verbal public testimony and a final rebuttal by the applicant.
The full schedule is expected to be as follows. These dates are subject to change with notice. Check the County’s website for the latest schedule.
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Expected date for County to publish a staff report considering evidence submitted by the applicant and public since the start of the appeal
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 5:30 – 10 p.m.
First day of public hearing: presentations by the County and the applicant followed by the start of verbal public testimony
Location: Benton County Fairgrounds Auditorium, 110 SW 53rd Street, Corvallis
Thursday, Oct. 23, 5:30 – 10 p.m.
Second day of public hearing: verbal public testimony concludes; applicant rebuttal; deadline to submit written testimony
Location: Benton County Fairgrounds Auditorium, 110 SW 53rd Street, Corvallis
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1 p.m.
Deliberations and decision by Board of Commissioners
Location: Kalapuya Building, 4500 SW Research Way, Corvallis
Monday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m.
Board of Commissioners adopts final written decision
Location: Kalapuya Building, 4500 SW Research Way, Corvallis
Virtual participation in all meetings will be available through an online meeting platform. Links to register for and view meetings will be available soon.
Verbal testimony
Anyone can sign up to give two minutes of verbal testimony on new evidence regardless of their participation in the earlier Planning Commission hearing. The time has been set at two minutes per person because of the condensed timeline of the hearing and the large number of interested parties who wish to be heard.
Registration for verbal testimony will open at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15. Instructions and a link to a sign-up form will be distributed and posted to the County website closer to that date.
Written testimony
Written evidence and testimony are already being accepted and will be collected until the hearing record is closed by the chair of the Board of Commissioners, which will not be before the hearing ends on Oct. 23.
There are four ways to submit written testimony:
- By email to landfillappeals@bentoncountyor.gov
- Through the testimony submission form on the County’s website. Please note that the form does not allow for attachments. To submit testimony with an attachment, use the email address above.
- Mailed to Board of Commissioners Office, P.O. Box 3020, Corvallis, OR 97339. Mailed submissions must be received by 5 p.m. on the day the record closes — the postmark will not be taken into consideration.
- Hand delivered to Board of Commissioners Office (suite 100) in the Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis
Written testimony can also be submitted in person at the hearing. A testimony table will be set up at the hearing location, opening one hour before the hearing and closing at the end of the session.
Public record
In preparation for the hearing to begin on Oct. 22, the Board of Commissioners is reviewing all documents in the public record of the Planning Commission hearing. Minutes and recordings from the hearing, along with all submitted materials, are part of that record.
The LU-24-027 Public Record is now available on the County’s website. It replaces the record maintained on the MuniDocs platform during the Planning Commission hearing. All documents from MuniDocs are included, with these improvements:
- Many duplicate documents have been removed.
- Individuals who made multiple submissions on the same date will see a combined document for that date.
- Attachments to emailed submissions are included within each document, rather than linked out.
- All documents are keyword searchable.
- Documents can be indexed by search engines.
The public record also includes new evidence submitted for the Board of Commissioners hearing. Applicant submissions and written public testimony are found below the Planning Commission record under the heading “Board of Commissioners de novo Record.” New submissions are uploaded to the record every Wednesday and Friday.
For more information about the appeal hearing and instructions for giving written or verbal testimony, visit bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill.
