Story Update – 8-18-26 – 8 AM

Update: Explosive Allegations of Potential Federal Fraud Filed Ahead of Tonight’s Hearing

Hours before tonight’s City Council appeal hearing on the controversial Sky Harbor jet development, opponents escalated the fight by submitting explosive allegations of potential federal fraud to city officials. In a formal supplemental filing, appellants Sarah Richmond, Brett Hamilton, and Valerie Pratt accuse Sky Harbour and the Port of Portland of submitting “blatantly and obviously false” statements on their FAA Categorical Exclusion (CATEX) environmental checklist. The disputed document, which appellants argue was withheld from the public until after the Planning Commission’s initial approval, claimed the project would neither increase aircraft operations, alter the airport’s fleet mix, nor generate significant traffic because it merely “relocates existing services at HIO”.

Invoking federal criminal statute 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (making false statements to a federal agency), the appellants claim the developer and Port coordinated a scheme to bypass a rigorous National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental assessment. They are demanding an official investigation into who approved the filings and when. While it remains to be seen whether the City Council will consider federal NEPA filings within their quasi-judicial local land-use scope, the eleventh-hour potential fraud claim injects major political pressure into what is already shaping up to be a historic showdown at City Hall.

Read the claims here –Hillsboro Airport Fraud Claim

This Tuesday Night at Hillsboro City Hall, a very important land-use matter will come before the City Council, where two groups of locals seek to stop the massive Hillsboro Sky Harbour Jet Hangar expansion project. The City of Hillsboro has already approved this project at the Planning Commission level, but two distinct groups representing residents from across the valley have filed and are proceeding with arguments to stop it. The appeal process now brings the battle to Hillsboro City Hall and before the City Council. This is where we will see how our City Council reacts to a wide variety of questions. This hearing will also lay out how limited the rules are and how Hillsboro’s codes are not designed to stop projects like this one, and as a result, the Council will be expected to approve the project. No doubt the issues are emotional and are rightfully causing some real fears in our community.

The Hillsboro Project No One is Talking About: A $38M Private Jet “Fortress” Heading for Approval Tomorrow

The Hillsboro Herald ran the story above in early April, just one day before the initial hearing. No one had submitted testimony, and no one really knew about this application. 24 hours later, at the hearing, a crowd showed up. 7,000 people read the 1st story. While some city officials and councilors continue to denigrate the Herald as “not news,” the evidence is that people want to know when their town faces threats to health, safety, and peaceful enjoyment. People have a right to know, and if telling them sparks appeals and contentious land-use hearings, that reflects the matter at hand. This case is serious, and Hillsboro will never be the same once this project is approved.

42 of these luxury extended-range jets will be coming to Hillsboro, Oregon, and flying in and out of the community daily, adding to an already busy public airport. Created with Gemini

More Details: The battle over the future of Hillsboro’s airspace and neighborhood livability arrives at the doorstep of the Hillsboro City Council this Tuesday, August 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM. At stake is New York-based developer Sky Harbour Group’s proposed $38 million private jet hub across from the Hillsboro Brookwood Library at 2315 NE Brookwood Parkway. The proposal calls for seven massive hangars totaling nearly 190,000 square feet and two 20,000-gallon underground jet-fuel tanks on a 13.70-acre Port of Portland leasehold, purpose-built to house approximately 30 ultra-long-range luxury corporate jets. Following four grueling Planning Commission hearings that ended in a contentious 5–0 approval on May 27, two separate citizen appeals have forced the matter before the City Council for a de novo hearing. The Council is not bound by previous testimony, and new evidence is flooding into the official record.

Time, Date, and Location – Get Zoom and more here

Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Shirley Huffman Auditorium, Hillsboro Civic Center, 150 East Main Street, Hillsboro
Format: In-person and online via Zoom (testimony is limited to 3 minutes per speaker)
Decision Deadline: Under Oregon’s statutory 120-day land-use rule, the Council has until September 13, 2026, to render a final decision.

The Players

The Decision Makers: The Hillsboro City Council, presided over by Mayor Beach Pace.
The Appellants:
- Oregon Aviation Watch (APPEAL-001-26): Led by longtime aviation advocate Miki Barnes and eight community co-appellants.
- Oregon Air (APPEAL-002-26): Led by Washington County residents Sarah Richmond, Brett Hamilton, and Valerie Pratt.
The Applicant: Sky Harbour Group, represented by land-use attorney Steven P. Hultberg of Radler White Parks & Alexander LLP.
The Landowner: The Port of Portland.
City Planning Staff: Led by Senior Planner Ruth Klein.

The Battle Lines: Ground Game vs. Regional Airspace

What the Community Is Fighting

Opponents from Hillsboro, Aloha, Beaverton, Bull Mountain, and Cooper Mountain argue that the development will lock in permanent environmental, health, and livability damage:

Noise & Toxic Emissions: Appellants argue that adding dozens of private jets creates heavy localized pollution (ultra-fine particulates, VOCs, NOx, and greenhouse gases) and continuous noise directly over residential flight paths with zero curfew or operating restrictions.
Incompatibility with Brookwood Library: The site is located roughly 475 feet across the street from Hillsboro’s flagship public library, exposing civic patrons and students to jet blast, odors, and noise.
Defective Notice & Review: Mailed public notices were strictly limited to a 500-foot radius around the specific tax lot, effectively excluding tens of thousands of residents living directly under low-altitude approach and departure corridors.
Unvetted Mitigation: The Planning Commission approved the project only after hastily adding Condition 45—a mandatory 6-foot masonry wall along Brookwood Parkway—after public testimony was closed, offering no engineering proof that a wall mitigates jet noise or blast.

The City Staff Recommendation

In a 29-page staff report issued August 11, City Planning staff recommends that the City Council deny both appeals and uphold the approval, albeit with substantial revisions.

Staff concedes that the Planning Commission’s original written order was plagued with procedural gaps, including missing exhibits, incorrect dates, unaddressed waste-enclosure dimensions, and a failure to incorporate findings regarding the library and the masonry wall. However, staff contends that the de novo hearing legally cures these defects.

Crucially, the City continues to claim that under the Hillsboro Community Development Code (CDC), municipal authority is strictly confined to physical ground development on the parcel. In-flight noise, flight frequencies, and air corridors fall under the preemptive jurisdiction of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The 11th-Hour Twist: Scrutiny Over Federal Environmental Clearance

Behind the scenes, the foundation of the project’s federal environmental clearance is coming under sharp scrutiny from the community. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)—the federal law that requires agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to assess the environmental consequences of major airport actions before granting approvals—projects are typically screened for potential noise, air quality, greenhouse gas, and community impacts. While major developments often trigger a rigorous Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), certain qualifying projects can obtain a Documented Categorical Exclusion (CATEX), which effectively exempts them from conducting an in-depth environmental study if the action is deemed to have no significant operational or environmental effects.

In testimony challenging how that federal clearance was secured, appellant Brett Hamilton outlined serious concerns regarding the characterization of the project:

“The CATEX document includes responses provided by the Port of Portland that were inaccurate and misleading. Sections addressing circumstances such as noise impacts, air‑quality impacts, cumulative impacts, public controversy, and environmental justice were marked in ways that did not accurately reflect the negative impacts of the proposed development. These inaccuracies led the FAA to issue a NEPA waiver rather than requiring an environmental assessment.”

Appellants argue that the underlying premise of the FAA’s waiver, that a new private jet hub would result in no notable operational shifts at HIO, directly conflicts with community concerns about increased jet traffic, emissions, and noise. Furthermore, appellants emphasize that throughout local proceedings, residents were repeatedly assured that “only the FAA can regulate air and noise concerns,” creating the public expectation that federal authorities were actively overseeing those issues—even though a NEPA waiver had already cleared the way without a comprehensive review.

Appellants also point directly to CDC Section 12.70.110.D.8.d, which grants the City explicit discretionary authority to require an applicant to submit independent technical reports if a development poses a risk of adverse noise, toxic emissions, or other objectionable effects. By declining to exercise municipal oversight, appellants contend that the City allowed the application to proceed without the baseline environmental data necessary to make an informed land-use determination.

Breaking News Watch: 11th-Hour Developments Expected

While City Planning staff’s August 11 report largely treated the FAA’s environmental determination as a settled federal matter outside municipal jurisdiction, that assumption could soon be put to the test.

The Hillsboro Herald has learned that potential ned information may arrive at or before the hearing starts, challenging City leadership to evaluate whether the project’s local approvals rest on a legally sound foundation.

Because City staff’s published recommendation went to print before this new material arrived, the Mayor and City Council may face unexpected, live-on-the-record questions as the hearing gets underway. This is not unusual, but if it happens, it could alter the outcome of this hearing.

The Hillsboro Herald will continue to monitor these developments closely. Stay tuned to the Herald for breaking updates, new document releases, and complete coverage leading up to Tuesday night’s decisive City Council hearing. The Hillsboro Herald will continue to bring you the deepest dives into the matters changing our City and communities here in Washington County, Oregon.

Here are the statements from both appellants from their websites with links. Support these groups if you can-

City Releases Staff Report and Related Documentation on the Appeal of Sky Harbour Hangar Development

Miki Barnes
August 12, 2026

On 8/11/2026 the City of Hillsboro released the Staff Report for the appeal of the Sky Harbour hangar proposal to construct seven hangars and two 20,000-gallon capacity fuel tanks at the Hillsboro Airport (HIO) across from the Brookwood Library. The 13.70 acre development is intended to serve 30 ultra-wealthy private jets owners.

At an 8/18/2026 hearing, the Hillsboro City Council will consider two appeals urging the members of the Council to reverse the Hillsboro Planning Commission’s decision to approve the Sky Harbour proposal. We strongly urge residents to attend the hearing and present oral and/or written testimony. Each individual has 3 minutes to speak. Reference DR-044-25 Sky Harbour Hangars Appeal in your written testimony.

There are multiple reasons to oppose this development including increased noise, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, safety, and security risks as well as property devaluation, environmental degradation, harms to wildlife, and lack of community notification and involvement. Deficiencies in the proposal include City Development Code and Hillsboro Comprehensive Plan violations. In addition, in an effort to avoid completing a noise analysis and environmental review, the Port of Portland provided false and misleading information to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Based on these mistruths and distortions, the FAA granted a Categorical Exclusion. See the 8/3/2026 Oregon Aviation Watch posting, Sky Harbour NEPA Document Peppered with Mistruths and Falsehoods for additional details.

Submitting Testimony

The hearing will be conducted during the City Council meeting, which begins at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, 8/18/2026. Hillsboro Senior Planner Ruth Klein provided the following timeline for submitting testimony:

- Written testimony received between 7/31 and 8/14 will be included in the 8/17/2026 Staff Report.
- The deadline for written testimony to be hand delivered to the Council is 8/17/2026 at 5:00 PM.

Community members can also submit written testimony with their oral comments at the hearing and request that their written comments be included in the meeting minutes and hearing record.

Decision Deadline 9/13/2026

According to the Staff Report, The Decision Deadline is September 13, 2026. “The Council is not required to reach a decision on 8/18. Continuance under CDC Section 12.70.180.E.4.b or E.4.c, a further extension of the 120-day period, or a decision at a subsequent meeting all remain available. This report notes the deadline so that the Council understands the schedule it is working within.” (Pg. 2)

To access the Staff Report click here.

The meeting agenda, information on how to attend online, and links to documents for the 8/18/2026 hearing are available here.

Hearing Date, Time and Location

Date: 8/18/2026
Time: 7:00 PM
Location:
Shirley Huffman Auditorium
Hillsboro Civic Center
150 East Main St.
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

How You Can Help

Two appeals were filed in opposition to Hillsboro Planning Commission’s 5/27/2026 decision to approve the development. They have different attorneys. Oregon Aviation Watch (OAW) is currently engaged in a fund raising campaign to cover legal expenses for the appeal filed by Miki Barnes on behalf of 9 appellants. For more than 15 years OAW has advocated to protect the community from noise, lead emissions, pollution, social inequity, threats to public health, ecological harms, and environmental degradation caused by users of HIO and neighboring airports. The vision of OAW is to achieve a transparent, accountable, and sustainable aviation system that neither disregards nor diminishes the environment, livability, health, or well-being of current and future generations of Oregon residents.

DONATE

Contributions to our fund raising campaign are greatly appreciated. OAW is now and always has been an all volunteer organization. All donations received will go towards covering legal expenses.

Additional information on the Sky Harbour appeal including a downloadable petition and information sheet is available at the OAW website’s Stop Sky Harbour page.

A few signs are still available. If of interest contact info@oregonaviationwatch.org.

This section above from the https://www.oregonaviationwatch.org/

From the 2md Group appealing the Sky Harbour project- https://www.oregonair.org/

Join Us in Stopping the Sky Harbour Hanger Development

Please click the DONATE button below to support our work in appealing the Sky Harbour Hangar development at the Hillsboro Airport.

Public Hearing: Tue Aug 18, 2026 @ 7:00PM
Hillsboro Civic Center Auditorium
150 East Main Street, Hillsboro
Google Maps · Zoom · Agenda · Info

New York based Sky Harbour Group is trying to build a private jet hub at Hillsboro Airport (HIO) for 30 large private jets that would cause a significant increase in jet flights and jet noise over Tualatin, King City, Progress Ridge, Beaverton, Aloha, Hillsboro, and North Plains, passing 2,300 feet above Bull Mountain, and 1,500 feet above Cooper Mountain. We filed a land use appeal to stop this expansion before it gets built. Join the fight! [more]

Petition

Public Hearing

Negative Impacts:

Noise Polution and Air Pollution
Ultra-fine particles, VOCs, black carbon, NOx, CO2
No limit on operating hours
No cap on jet flight activity
Directly across the street from the library
Reduction in property values and quality of life

The flight path could be right above your house: [map]

Ways to get involved now:

Sign the Petition
Attend the August 18 public hearing
Follow us on Instagram
Send the sample Public Comment via email
Make a Donation to fund the legal fight
Host a Yard Sign on your property [request]
Join our Email List [request]
Distribute Hillsboro or Beyond Flyers
Send an Info Sheet to your friends and neighbors
Get your organization to pass a Resolution
Talk to your neighbors
Questions? Email action@oregonair.org

Learn about The Case:

in the Media:

Carbon Footprint:

Sky Harbour’s application says “The hangars are typically expected to have approximately 60 percent of jets active at one time” (H10 Page 89) and “approximately half of the aircraft are expected to have a scheduled guest” (H10 Page 527) meaning the other half of the time, these jets will fly empty on a positioning flight, doubling the carbon footprint per passenger mile.

Private jet travel is the most carbon-intensive mode of passenger transport.
Fuel Consumption for a Private Jet: (Bombardier Global 7500)

Burns 1000 gallons of fuel the first 30 minutes of flight (take-off and climb)
Burns 500 gallons per hour at cruise speed. 700 gallons per hour at top speed
14X more pollution per-passenger-mile than a commercial jetliner
Average fuel economy of 1 mile per gallon (1 MPG)

Flight Tracking:

If you want to know if the plane that just flew over your house is heading to Hillsboro, check the real-time tracking map on ADS-B Exchange. If you click on an airplane, it will show you their entire flight path.