Winterbrook has provided land use and environmental permitting services for major public facility projects for the Portland Water Bureau since 1995. Following is a selection of projects:

Powell Butte

Categories: City, Water, Public Facilities
Services: Permitting, Conditional Use, Environmental Review

Winterbrook managed the land use and environmental compliance process for the Powell Butte Reservoir #2 project, located within Powell Butte Nature Park. The plan included a new, below-ground reservoir, maintenance facility, caretakers house, interpretative center, and an update to the Powell Butte Nature Park Master Plan.

Winterbrook prepared the land use documentation and obtained approvals for the Conditional Use Master Plan and Environmental Review. Winterbrook also helped guide park and trail master planning, mitigation planning, and the public outreach process.

Bull Run Treatment Facility

Categories: City, Water, Public Facilities, Governement
Services: Permitting, Conditional Use, Environmental Review, Design Review, Natural Resource Management Plan

Under a compliance order with the EPA, the Portland Water Bureau plans to build a $1 billion water filtration facility on the border of Multnomah and Clackamas Counties. Winterbrook leads the land use and environmental compliance tasks for the project. Complex land use review cases in both counties were approved by the respective County Hearings Officers in late 2023. These cases included multiple Conditional Use, Environmental, Geologic and Design Review applications for Multnomah County. Project construction is planned to be completed by late 2027.

Sandy River Station

Categories: City, Water, Public Facilities
Services: Permitting, Master Plan

As an expansion of a nonconforming use at the historic Sandy River Station in Clackamas County, Winterbrook obtained land use approval to relocate fleet vehicle parking and materials storage to a location out of the flood hazard area. The project resulted in safety and security improvements to the facility..

Lusted Hill Corrosion Control

Categories: City, Water, Public Facilities
Services: Permitting, Conditional Use, Environmental Review, Design Review, Natural Resource Management Plan

Working closely with Portland Water Bureau staff, Stantec, and NNA Landscape Architecture, Winterbrook led the land use and environmental permitting tasks to allow expansion of treatment and distribution facilities on the Lusted Hill site in Multnomah County. The corrosion control improvements package included County land use applications for Community Service Use, Design Review, Significant Environmental Concern – Wildlife Habitat, Lot of Record, and Hillside Development.

Washington Park Reservoirs

Categories: City, Water, Public Facilities
Services: Permitting, Conditional Use, Environmental Review, Design Review

Winterbrook led the land use and environmental compliance tasks for a new reservoir and the historic redevelopment of open water features in the Washington Park Reservoirs Historic District. The plan replaces aging reservoirs with new reflecting pools and the historic restoration of Romanesque Dams and Gatehouses.

The new reservoir will maintain the historic drinking water function provided by the original reservoirs – but will be engineered to withstand ongoing landslide encroachment and potentially catastrophic effects of a major earthquake. For the first time since the 1970s, John Charles Olmsted’s vision of publicly-accessible, open water features as a contemplative and relaxing counterpoint to the bustle of urban life will again become a reality.

The consolidated conditional use, environmental, design, and historic resource review applications were approved by the Portland Landmarks Commission, Portland Hearings Officer and Portland City Council and the project is currently under construction.