Water Filtration Facility

Zoee has served as the primary legal counsel for discretionary land use entitlement for a drinking water filtration facility and related pipelines in Multnomah County, OR. The facility is required to remove Cryptosporidium from the water supply, comply with federal and state drinking water regulations, and to supply safe, reliable drinking water to nearly one million people (about a quarter of the state’s population). The Type III Conditional Use Review process requires more than 25 land use permits, including environmental overlay zones, landslide hazard areas, design review, review of a communications tower, and reviews related to the Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) zone. Zoee and her co-counsel Renee France have led the process for preparation of the application, the post-hearing open record response process, and drafting of the final legal argument. After winning approvals by both Multnomah County and Clackamas County, case is currently on appeal at the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA); additional appeals could lead to the Court of Appeals and possibly the Oregon Supreme Court.