Data center approvals in City of Hillsboro, OR

Updated October 2026

Data centers are allowed by right where the district permits them, subject to use-specific standards, so the risk sits in the standards and the site plan, not a hearing. Hearings: Planning and Zoning Hearings Board → City Council.

What the timeline looks like

working days; discretionaryApproval = Type III Development Review from submittal through the PZHB decision (30-day completeness plus the 120-day ORS 227.178 period, estimate); sitePlan = CWS Site Development Permit (published target 15 + 10 business days) plus City public improvement review, two cycles (estimate); the local appeal (15 days) and LUBA (21 days) windows add about 26 working days before permits; others are estimates from the published process

What slows projects here

• Data centers are allowed by right where the district permits them, subject to use-specific standards, so the risk sits in the standards and the site plan, not a hearing.
• Ordinance 6521 (CDCA-004-26, adopted Oct 20, 2026, effective Nov 19, 2026) defines 'Data Center' as its own use. Stand-alone data centers are a permitted-with-limitations (L) use only in the I-P Industrial Park zone (cumulative cap 215 gross acres, CDC 12.25.250.G) and the I-S Industrial Sanctuary zone (310 gross acres outside the Jackson East and Meek sub-areas; 62 acres Jackson East-South and 21 acres Jackson East-North; Meek accessory only, CDC 12.25.350.L). Accessory data centers in all industrial zones and two urban center zones are capped at the lesser of 25% of site gross acreage or 30% of gross floor area and may not lease capacity to third parties (12.40.145.D). A 1,000-foot school buffer applies to primary and accessory data centers until Oct 31, 2027 (12.40.145.C). Every new data center, including conversions and accessory-to-primary changes, requires Development Review processed under the Type III quasi-judicial procedure before the Planning and Zoning Hearings Board (12.80.040.B.9 and E.4; Table 12.70.020-1), so the approval is a discretionary hearing with findings on 12.80.040.H even though the use is listed. The ordinance's Exhibit C (Data Center Inventory as of Aug 19, 2026) counts 203.17 I-P acres and 354.29 I-S acres (292.29 outside Jackson East, plus the 62-acre Jackson East-South site) as built or in permitting, leaving about 12 I-P acres, 18 I-S acres and the 21 Jackson East-North acres at adoption; get the City's current tally. Table 12.70.020-1 as amended marks the data center row as requiring a neighborhood meeting. Before Ord. 6521, data centers were Industrial Services permitted in seven industrial zones under Type II administrative review.
• Moratorium in effect: 120-day land use moratorium on applications for new or expanded data centers and battery energy storage systems as a primary use, enacted by City Council on July 27, 2026 at 12:21 pm (runs through Nov 24, 2026 per press; the Council may extend under the state moratorium statute after notice to DLCD). Applications accepted before the moratorium continue through review. No extension had been reported as of Oct 31, 2026; the City page says Council may extend once for up to six months. Separately, HB 4084 (2026) bars enterprise zone authorization of data center projects from June 5-6, 2026 until 90 days after the 2027 session adjourns (tax incentive only, not land use). Phase II code amendments (building height, buffers, green building, environmental standards; CSF and enterprise zone policy) are planned for winter/spring 2027 after an environmental and economic study.
• Notice rules are a veto point: Mailed notice to the applicant, owners of record within 500 feet (Washington County assessment roll) and IGA agencies at least 20 days before the hearing; content per 12.70.050.F.3 including the raise-it-or-waive-it statement and the staff-report-available-7-days statement; affidavit of mailing in the case file; staff report available 7 days before the hearing; participants may require a 7-day continuance or open record (ORS 197.797(6)). Neighborhood meeting (required for Type III Data Center Applications per Table 12.70.020-1 as amended by Ord. 6521) notice 7-30 days before the meeting to the same 500-foot radius plus a posted sign 7 days before (12.70.100). The 500-foot radius and 20-day lead come from the City's code as extracted (Municode and eCode360 block direct fetches); the Sept 2, 2025 housing-notice amendment set 100 ft / 500 ft for housing applications only; re-read 12.70.050.F at onboarding. Newspaper publication is required only for certain conditional use, PUD and zone change items (12.70.050.G). (ORS 197.797(2)-(3); Hillsboro CDC 12.70.050.F). A defective notice can void an approval after the fact.
• Hillsboro City Council 120-day data center / BESS land use moratorium enacted July 27, 2026 (first in Oregon; Salem and Woodburn followed, Clackamas County filed a 45-day notice)
• Ordinance 6521 (CDCA-004-26) adopted unanimously Oct 20, 2026: acreage caps (215 I-P / 310 I-S / 83 Jackson East), Type III hearings, 1,000-ft school buffer sunsetting Oct 31, 2027, 12-acre cap on stand-alone BESS; its Exhibit C inventory shows 203.17 I-P and 354.29 I-S acres (292.29 outside Jackson East) already built or in permitting as of Aug 19, 2026
• Oregon HB 4084 (2026): enterprise zone authorization of data center projects barred until 90 days after the 2027 session; no 4-5 year extension for data center property; 17 Hillsboro data center EZ applications filed March-May 2026 ahead of the June effective date, and a June 22, 2026 Washington County Circuit Court suit challenging those approvals (as reported by the Hillsboro News-Times; status unverified)

What to do about it

• Run the utility large-load study, the state air permit and the land-use approval in parallel from day one; they are separate authorities and nothing requires them in sequence.
• Lock the generator count, size, tier and classification before filing: a density change reopens the air permit, the noise study and the utility load letter together.
• Treat every statutory notice as a checklist with evidence (advertisement text and dates, mailing receipts, posted signs) reviewed by counsel against the statute in force on the hearing date.
• Carry the 15-day appeal window after the approval on the schedule; lenders and tenants will not close across it.
• File complete so the 120-day review clock starts; most delay in review is correction cycles, not review time.

Sources

• Hillsboro Community Development Code, Subchapter 12.70 Procedures (Municode) — accessed 2026-10-31
• Hillsboro Ordinance No. 6521 (CDCA-04-26) Data and Energy Storage, with Exhibit A code text and Exhibit B findings — accessed 2026-10-31
• City of Hillsboro, Data Centers in Hillsboro (moratorium, two-phase plan, FAQ) — accessed 2026-10-31
• Hillsboro City Council adopts first round of new data center restrictions (Your Oregon News / Hillsboro News-Times, Oct 21, 2026) — accessed 2026-10-31
• ORS 227.178 Final action on certain applications required within 120 days — accessed 2026-10-31
• ORS 197.797 (formerly 197.763) Conduct of local quasi-judicial land use hearings; notice requirements — accessed 2026-10-31
• ORS 197.830 Review procedures (LUBA) — accessed 2026-10-31
• ORS 455.467 Phased permits for commercial projects — accessed 2026-10-31
• Oregon State Fire Marshal rulemaking OSFM 6-2025: adoption of the 2025 Oregon Fire Code effective Oct 1, 2025 — accessed 2026-10-31
• Oregon Building Codes Division: 2025 Oregon Structural Specialty Code adoption (effective Oct 1, 2025; construction provisions mandatory Apr 1, 2026) — accessed 2026-10-31
• OAR 340-216-8010 Table 1 (Activities and Sources), rule page with Table 1 attachment (amended DEQ 12-2026, effective Oct 14, 2026) — accessed 2026-10-31
• Clean Water Services Design and Construction Standards (R&O 26-25) — accessed 2026-10-31

Timelines are general information drawn from the sources listed, not advice on a specific project. Rules change; confirm current requirements with the authority.