An appeal from local residents and aviation activists has hit pause on Sky Harbour’s private-jet hangar plan at Portland–Hillsboro Airport and kicked the final decision up to the Hillsboro City Council. The city’s Planning Commission signed off on the proposal in late May, but the appeal means councilors will now decide whether the project can move ahead to permitting and construction. Neighbors and advocates frame the fight around noise, air pollution and equity, while Sky Harbour and airport partners argue the campus would help ease a shortage of business-aircraft hangar space.
Commission approval, then an appeal
The Hillsboro Planning Commission approved Sky Harbour’s application on May 27 in a 5-0 vote with one abstention, according to the City of Hillsboro. Local coverage reports that an appeal has frozen action on the permit and that the City Council is expected to take up the issue in mid-August. The Forest Grove News-Times noted that the challenge comes after hundreds of public comments were submitted on the project.
What the proposal would build
The application calls for using roughly 13 acres of Port-leased land at Hillsboro Airport for a multi-hangar campus that would include a shared aircraft ramp, fueling facilities and vehicle parking, as laid out in Port of Portland records. Those documents show the ground lease was approved in 2025 and describe a two-phase buildout. Sky Harbour’s own materials market the Hillsboro location as a Home-Base hangar campus with short taxi times to the runway and dedicated line services, according to Sky Harbour.
Neighbors and advocacy groups push back
Opponents told the Planning Commission that more private aircraft operations would worsen noise and local air pollution and pointed out that the development site is across the street from Brookwood Library. Oregon Aviation Watch, which helped lead the appeal filed June 17, said the case file already holds more than 150 written submissions and urged the council to require more extensive environmental and noise reviews before any permits are granted.
Legal implications and process…