Tag: Conditional Use Permit

The Benton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to reopen the record for LU-24-027 to accept new evidence related to the proposed expansion of the Coffin Butte Landfill. Written comment and testimony directed to a November 6 letter from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, as it relates to the applicable criteria in the Benton County Code, can be submitted by the public until 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27.

In a Jan. 20 public hearing to reconsider their decision on the land use case, the Board considered a recommendation from Planning Division staff to open the record to receive a DEQ letter issued after the Board voted in Nov. 2025 to approve the landfill expansion application.

Planning staff recommended a schedule for written public testimony, applicant final argument and a continuation of the hearing to March 3 for deliberations and decision. The Board approved the following timeline:

Tuesday, Jan. 20

LU-24-027 Public Record reopened to accept the Nov. 6 DEQ letter. It will remain open for 7 days to accept written evidence, argument and testimony related to the DEQ letter as it relates to applicable criteria in the Benton County Code.  

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 4 p.m.

Deadline for the County to receive written evidence, argument and testimony relating to the DEQ letter.

Beginning of new, 7-day period limited only to responses to written evidence, argument and testimony submitted during the Jan. 20-27 submission period.

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 4 p.m.

Receipt deadline for 7-day responsive open record period.

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 4 p.m.

Deadline for the County to receive the applicant’s final argument, with no new evidence.

Tuesday, Feb. 24

TENTATIVE — Staff report (if any) on new evidence published.

Tuesday, March 3, 11 a.m.

Continued reconsideration hearing and Board deliberations in the Holmes & Shipley meeting room at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis.

Tuesday, March 17, 9 a.m.

TENTATIVE — Adoption of findings in regular Board of Commissioners meeting and transmittal of decision on reconsideration to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. If adoption is scheduled for an earlier date, it will be announced on March 3.

Submitting written testimony

On Tuesday, Jan. 20, the Board of Commissioners reopened the public record for seven (7) days to collect written evidence and testimony from all parties, including the public, directed to the November 6 DEQ letter. Submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27.  

Following the 7-day open record period, the record will remain open for a 7-day responsive comment period limited to written submissions from all parties addressing only new issues raised during the Jan. 20-27 submission period. Submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3.  

There are four ways to submit written testimony:  

• Hand delivered to Board of Commissioners Office (suite 100) in the Kalapuya Building at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis.
• By email to landfillappeals@bentoncountyor.gov. To submit an attachment that is too large to send through email, contact pioinfo@bentoncountyor.gov to request an SFTP upload link.
• 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 4 p.m. on Jan. 27 — the postmark will not be taken into consideration. 

More information is available at bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill.

The Benton County Board of Commissioners Office has published the agenda and meeting packet for the Jan. 20 meeting. The meeting will include two short public hearings and will begin at 10 a.m. in the Holmes & Shipley meeting room at 4500 SW Research Way in Corvallis.

The Jan. 20 Board of Commissioners meeting will begin an hour later than the standard 9 a.m. start time because of a smaller than usual amount of regular business on the agenda.

Public comment will be heard at the beginning of the meeting, but comment related to either of the scheduled public hearings will not be allowed.  

The first of two public hearings will begin at 11 a.m. It will address a development code text amendment related to mobile food carts. At this time, public comment about the text amendment only will be heard.

The second hearing will be a public hearing for reconsideration of the Board’s decision on LU-24-027, a Conditional Use Permit application to expand Coffin Butte Landfill. The Board will consider a recommended timeline for accepting written public testimony, included in the agenda packet published on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The Board is considering a recommendation from Planning Division staff to open the record to receive a DEQ letter issued after the Board voted to approve the landfill expansion application in November 2025. The recommendation includes a timeline for the public to submit written evidence or argument regarding the new evidence presented at the Jan. 20 hearing. Planning staff is recommending the Board continue the hearing to a later date for deliberations and decision.

Ex parte rules continue to apply to the Commissioners’ consideration of the application. They prevent the Commissioners from hearing verbal or written comment outside of the public process for accepting evidence and testimony about the Coffin Butte Landfill.

No vote will be taken on Jan. 20 and no decision on the land use application will be made.

Following the public hearing on Jan. 20, the County will distribute a press release to share the Board’s decisions regarding continued hearing date and the timeline and guidelines for any open record period set during the hearing.

More information is available at bentoncountyor.gov/coffin-butte-landfill.