What's Actually on the Table at Forest Park's October 14 Hearing
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
On Wednesday, October 14, at 1:30 p.m., a City of Portland Hearings Officer will take up PGE's second attempt to run new transmission line through the north end of Forest Park. In May 2025, City Council denied the first attempt. Six days before this hearing, the process looks very different. Staff are recommending approval, and the reason is a City–PGE agreement signed in July. That agreement told staff to write a favorable report, and in a separate section it says no decision-maker is bound to follow it. For anyone who walks Wildwood or works restoration parties in the park, those two clauses decide what the October 14 hearing is for.
On May 7, 2025, City Council reversed the environmental review approval for PGE's original Harborton Phase 3 application. It upheld some of the conditional use and Greenway pieces. On May 23, 2025, PGE appealed to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Forest Park Conservancy filed a joint appeal of the first application with the Forest Park Neighborhood Association, and it describes Council's vote on that appeal as 12-0.
The two sides went to mediation instead of fighting it out on appeal. The City announced an agreement with PGE on July 9, 2026. According to the Forest Park Neighborhood Association, PGE refiled on July 8, and City staff recommended approval on October 2.
Here's how the two rounds compare:
| First application | Revised application | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest acreage affected | 4.7 acres, per Forest Park Conservancy | 4.7 acres of natural resource disturbance, per City staff |
| Mitigation payment | $2.4 million fee-in-lieu | $5.5 million |
| Staff recommendation | Did not meet any of the 13 Forest Park Management Plan criteria, per Forest Park Conservancy | Tentative approval |
| Outcome | Environmental review reversed by Council, May 7, 2025 | Hearings Officer, October 14, 2026 |
The City–PGE agreement sets the mitigation package at $5.5 million. That money is meant for mitigation, ecological enhancement, land conservation, and wildfire resilience in or next to Forest Park. Possible uses include North Unit wetland and amphibian habitat, invasive plant and wildfire fuel work, and buying nearby conservation land. The City keeps discretion over the specific spending. The Forest Park Neighborhood Association notes that this is $3.1 million more than the original $2.4 million fee-in-lieu, and that the extra money isn't set aside for any one project. A separate $250,000 pays for an independent adviser. That adviser's work covers future utility projects in the park, including alternatives, design, construction, and mitigation, not this one.
Section 7 is the part that shapes the hearing. Section 7A says the City "shall prepare a staff report recommending approval of the new application." Section 7B follows right after it:
"Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to bind the Hearings Officer, City Council, any elected official, or any decision-maker to approve the Project. The decision shall be made independently, based upon the record before the decision-maker and in accordance with applicable law."
Section 7A also leaves an opening. If "new arguments supported by compelling evidence" come in during the land use process, the City will consult PGE and let it submit a rebuttal. After that, staff can issue a report saying the project's compliance with one or more criteria "may not yet be demonstrated by the evidence in the record."
Forest Park Conservancy argues that the directive "puts staff in an untenable position," because it asks staff to reverse their earlier findings. The agreement's text puts the final call on the Hearings Officer and the evidence in the record. Either way, the outcome turns on what goes into the record and how the Hearings Officer weighs it.
The tentative staff recommendation in the staff report covers two reviews. The environmental review includes:
The Greenway review covers removing four trees, building a temporary access road, and installing three steel poles.
PGE's own project page lists fewer physical changes. It would move one pole and rewire an existing 1,400-foot segment, add two poles and a new 1,400-foot segment, and connect its lines across Highway 30 to the substation. The company says the result would make Harborton Substation a hub linked to three substations.
The tree numbers don't line up across PGE's own documents. PGE's September fact sheet says 376 trees would come down across five acres. Its September FAQ counts 393 trees selected for removal, including 18 dead ones, and says the plan now tops some trees instead of removing them. The City's count of 375 living trees plus 18 dead matches the FAQ's total of 393. None of the documents explains why the fact sheet has one more living tree than the City count.
The two sides also describe the land differently. PGE says the work uses a 1971 easement in a corridor that has carried transmission lines since the 1940s. City staff describe the project area as an intact forested section surrounded by existing utility corridors, and they write that the presence of an easement alone does not make it an established utility corridor.
PGE says it identified the reliability need in 2015, and that its electricity-use projections have risen steadily since 2020, putting it at risk of breaking federally set limits. The company says outages could happen as soon as 2028 if the problem isn't fixed. Staff's summary of PGE's alternatives review covers three options: taller towers on the ridge, a route along NW Marina Way, and the proposed route. PGE found the proposed route to be the only one feasible by 2028. Staff note that the Marina Way options could take more than seven years.
Forest Park Conservancy disputes each of those points. It cites an independent analysis that found a workable Marina Way route, and it says large-scale battery storage and generation closer to the source haven't been fully explored. It also says the only upgraded line in the project runs from Harborton to Washington County, where demand is rising because of new data centers. And it questions how urgent the need can be when planning started a decade ago but the land use application wasn't filed until 2024.
The Forest Park Neighborhood Association opposes the settlement and plans to testify at the hearing. It says it was left out of the final negotiations, along with Forest Park Conservancy and Bird Alliance of Oregon.
The work is a long way from the Lower Macleay and Thurman trailheads that most of Northwest Portland uses. The application site covers Forest Park and Harborton Substation at 12500 NW Marina Way. The new lines would run from existing PGE lines in the park east across Highway 30, also known as NW St. Helens Road, to the substation. Staff place the park work in the North Management Unit.
For trail users, the staff report finds a limited effect. The Wildwood Trail crosses the utility corridor in one spot, and no construction is planned there. Trail effects would be limited to temporary closures or detours during construction. The report also mentions an informal winter running route that follows BPA and other utility roads and uses parts of formal trails. It expects "almost no impact" there, because much of the corridor work won't happen in winter. PGE calls its timeline approximate. It shows permitting, two construction seasons, winter stabilization, then restoration and monitoring on a graphic covering 2025 through 2029, with no end date set for monitoring.
The format is quasi-judicial, so the order of steps matters:
Because Council can't take new evidence on appeal, both sides have until the record closes on this first round to get their evidence in. The full case file is on the City's records site, and documents are added as they come in. Forest Park Conservancy has also called a rally at City Hall for 8:30 a.m. that morning.
The hearing falls in the middle of Forest Park Conservancy's fall volunteer season. A restoration work party meets at the Leif Erikson and Thurman Lane trailhead on Saturday, October 10. An herb walk starts from Lower Macleay on October 17, and No Ivy Day runs at several sites on Saturday, October 24. Most events ask you to sign up in advance. Portland Parks & Recreation's trail closures page, updated September 28, lists the Ridge Trail parking area on NW Bridge Avenue as closed indefinitely. It also lists the bridge at Wildwood mile 15.2 as closed, with a stepped bypass.
Decisions about Forest Park shape everyday life in Northwest Portland, and following them closely is part of knowing the Westside well. If you'd like to talk about what is changing near your home, or how decisions like this one play out over time, Shannon Janssen is glad to share what she's watching. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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