Hermiston City Council to discuss LID, expansion of UGB
By Terry Murry on Monday, August 25th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – The Hermiston City Council meets at 7 p.m. today (Monday). Two items on the agenda have to deal with forming a local improvement district (LID) and expanding the city’s urban growth boundary (UGB).
The council will revisit a proposal to form a local improvement district to improve Northwest Second Street between Elm and Cherry near the intersection of Highway 207 (West Elm Avenue) and Highway 395. That section of gravel road is expected to soon see increased traffic due to the Oregon Department of Transportation’s modifications to Highway 207 which will restrict left turns near the intersection.
Resolution 2392 includes a funding plan in which the city will contribute $75,000 toward the total project cost which would reduce assessments on impacted property owners. An updated cost estimate following a review lowers the total estimated project cost by $57,000.
City staff reports the proposal follows months of negotiations with affected property owners. The resolution does not actually form the LID, but sets a public hearing date at which the council will decide whether to proceed.
The council will also consider expanding the city’s urban growth boundary which would create room on the south side of the city for new, large-scale data centers. The expansion would involve an estimated 810 acres in the South Hermiston Industrial Park (SHIP). It is estimated that the potential economic impact of the expansion is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The expansion would answer an analysis by the city of a shortage of large industrial parcels of 100 acres or more that are necessary for such data centers. The Hermiston Planning Commission recommended approving the expansion in a meeting on Aug. 13. The council will consider Ordinance No. 2374 and Ordinance 2375 before sending the expansion to Umatilla County. In a prepared release, city staff stated letters of consent to the annexation has been received from all the landowners that are impacted.
The meeting is in council chambers of Hermiston City Hall. It will also be streamed live on the city’s YouTube channel and the city website.
The city of Hermiston supplied the map (above) of the possible UGB expansion
