Hillsboro: NTT Seeks City OK for Battery Storage on Evergreen Road Site; Comments Due Nov. 20
- NTT Global Data Centers HI, LLC has asked the City of Hillsboro to approve a battery energy storage system on part of its property at 4050 NE Evergreen Road, according to a public notice the city pos…
- The case, DR26-0041, is a Type II administrative review, which means a staff-level decision.
- The site lies north of NE Brookwood Parkway, south of NE Evergreen Road, east of NE 33rd Avenue and west of NE Dawson Creek Drive, the notice says.
NTT Global Data Centers HI, LLC has asked the City of Hillsboro to approve a battery energy storage system on part of its property at 4050 NE Evergreen Road, according to a public notice the city posted Nov. 6. Written comments are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, before the city’s director decides the request.
The case, DR26-0041, is a Type II administrative review, which means a staff-level decision. The three-page notice calls the project an “accessory battery energy storage system (BESS)” and says it is “accessory to the primary industrial use of the site.” The notice does not name that primary use.
The site lies north of NE Brookwood Parkway, south of NE Evergreen Road, east of NE 33rd Avenue and west of NE Dawson Creek Drive, the notice says. It is zoned Industrial Park with a planned unit development overlay, and NTT Global Data Centers HI, LLC is listed as both owner and applicant.
What the attached site plan shows
The notice describes the project area as “a portion of a site approximately 1.05 acres in size.” Its third page, a site plan by Colliers Engineering & Design, labels a 1.05-acre “limit of disturbance,” the boundary of ground that construction would touch. The sheet is dated Aug. 20 and marked “30% plans” and “not for construction.”
The plan labels a typical battery storage unit and a medium-voltage transformer, and other labels mark switchgear, panel boards, a storage shed, an emergency turnaround area, a detention basin and a flow-through planter.
The notice and plan list these basic details:
| Item | What the notice or site plan says |
|---|---|
| Case | DR26-0041, “NTT Global Data Center Energy Storage System” |
| Review | Type II administrative review; the director decides |
| Address | 4050 NE Evergreen Road, tax lot 1N2280002900 |
| Zoning | Industrial Park with planned unit development overlay |
| Work area | 1.05-acre limit of disturbance |
| Materials | 862 feet of fence, two pedestrian gates, one vehicle gate, 22,373 sq. ft. of gravel, 80 feet of curb, one relocated light pole |
| Setbacks | 35 feet front and 10 feet side and rear required; plan shows more than each |
| Criteria | Community Development Code Section 12.80.040 |
| Appeal | To the Planning Commission under code Section 12.70.180 |
| Comments due | 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, 2026 |
The table leaves out how much energy the system would store. The notice text gives no storage capacity, battery type or fire-safety details, and the site plan does not list capacity or battery chemistry. On the posted copy, several lines of text under the battery label are blacked out, as is one word in the storage shed label. The plan also points to a second sheet, C-3.0, that is not attached to the notice.
How the city’s data center rules fit in
The notice also leaves open how the city’s changing data center rules apply. The City Council adopted a temporary moratorium on “data center and battery energy storage system developments” on July 27, by a 6-0 vote, according to the meeting minutes. As Focus Hillsboro reported Nov. 5, the city says its new data center code takes effect Nov. 19, the moratorium is set to expire Nov. 24, and the council is expected to consider a six-month extension on Nov. 17.
The city’s July 27 announcement says the moratorium bars applications for battery systems “proposed as a primary use.” It defines primary use partly by share of building area, construction value and electrical capacity, including a 20-megawatt test. The notice calls this system accessory but does not give those figures, and neither document says which rules apply to this application.
The new code changes the process, too. Under it, energy storage applications become Type III cases with a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Hearings Board, according to the city’s Oct. 30 release. This case was noticed as Type II. Neither the notice nor the site plan says when the application was filed, or whether the moratorium or the new code applies to it.
How to send a comment by Nov. 20
The notice is addressed to people with property near the site, but it invites written comments from “interested persons” and spells out the steps.
- Review the file. The complete application and related criteria can be inspected at the Planning Division at no cost, and copies are available “at reasonable cost,” the notice says. The code itself is online at Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/CommunityDevelopmentCode.
- Write by the deadline. Comments are due by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. The notice says they may be mailed to the Planning Division, 150 E. Main St., 4th Floor, Hillsboro, OR 97123.
- Cite the case. Put Case File No. DR26-0041 on all written correspondence.
- Be specific. Under Oregon law, ORS 197.797, an issue not raised by the close of the comment period, or raised without enough detail for the decision maker to respond, cannot be the basis of an appeal to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
- Ask questions. The notice lists planner Melinda Gross at 503-681-6153 or [email protected] for more information.
Comments close at 5 p.m. Nov. 20, one day after the new code takes effect. The director will then decide after reviewing all submitted materials, and that decision may be appealed to the Planning Commission.
Top image: Illustrative image, 2023: a battery energy storage site at Beech Ridge Wind Farm in Greenbrier County, West Virginia (not the Hillsboro site). Photo: Z22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
