Oregon
Buying Land in Columbia County, Oregon
Columbia County runs along the lower Columbia River between Portland and the coast, mixing EFU farmland and private timberland with real heavy industry at Port Westward -- including a genuinely long-running, still-contested fight over rezoning hundreds of acres of farmland for industrial use, worth understanding if you're looking anywhere near Clatskanie.
The Port Westward rezone fight: real, long-running, and still unresolved
The single most important land-use story specific to Columbia County right now is the fight over 837 acres of farmland near Clatskanie, adjacent to the existing Port Westward Industrial Park along the Columbia River. The Port of Columbia County bought the land in 2010 and has sought to rezone it from Exclusive Farm Use to industrial use since roughly 2014 -- and county commissioners have approved that rezone three separate times. Each time, Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) has sent the decision back to the county, most recently in a May 2022 ruling, siding with environmental and land-use groups who argued the county failed to adequately show how the proposed industrial uses would be compatible with the surrounding farms, or to specify with enough precision what would actually be built on the site.
In response to LUBA's repeated push for more specificity, the port has narrowed its proposal to five categories of industrial use centered on forestry and wood products, natural gas, dry bulk, liquid bulk, and breakbulk storage. The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld at least one LUBA ruling in this saga, and the Oregon Supreme Court declined to review a petition brought by Columbia Riverkeeper, one of the opposing groups. As of this research pass the underlying zoning designation for the 837 acres remained unresolved and subject to further county proceedings -- confirm the current zoning status of any parcel near this site directly with Columbia County Land Development Services before assuming either outcome.
Existing industry already at Port Westward
Separate from the contested 837 acres, the existing Port Westward Industrial Park already hosts substantial heavy industry: three natural-gas-fired power plants operated by Portland General Electric, and a marine transfer terminal operated by the Massachusetts-based Global Partners Inc. that has shipped ethanol and biodiesel by rail to oceangoing vessels since 2016. Global Partners also operated an oil-by-rail transshipment operation at the site from 2013 to 2015 and retains regulatory approval to resume crude-oil shipments, a point of ongoing concern for environmental groups tracking the site.
For a buyer looking at land in the Clatskanie/Port Westward area for any reason, this existing industrial activity -- rail traffic, marine terminal operations, and power-plant infrastructure -- is worth understanding as a present-day fact on the ground, independent of how the adjacent rezone dispute eventually resolves.
EFU farmland and timberland elsewhere in the county
Away from the Port Westward corridor, Columbia County's rural land splits fairly evenly between EFU-zoned farmland in the flatter lowlands and substantial private industrial timberland in its hillier terrain. As with EFU zoning statewide, a non-farm dwelling on EFU land requires a conditional-use approval and specific county findings -- confirm dwelling eligibility for a given parcel directly with the county rather than assuming from acreage or a listing description.
Timberland tracts in the county are subject to the 2022 Private Forest Accord's expanded stream buffers -- generally 75 to 110 feet along fish-bearing streams, in effect for large private owners (5,000+ acres) since July 1, 2023 -- which can meaningfully reduce a tract's actual harvestable acreage near its watercourses. Confirm current stream classifications and buffer requirements with the Oregon Department of Forestry before valuing a timberland purchase on its gross forested acreage.
Who to Call Before Buying Land in Columbia County
Columbia County's Planning Division asks callers to reach the Planner On Duty at extension 3 of the main line listed above before submitting an application. Assessor/GIS contact information was not independently confirmed this research pass.
Planning & Zoning
Columbia County Land Development Services -- Planning Division
Zoning verification, EFU dwelling and conditional-use questions, and the current status of the Port Westward rezone case.
Other
Port of Columbia County
Current information on Port Westward Industrial Park operations, tenants, and the pending rezone application.
Other
Oregon DEQ Onsite Wastewater Program (Columbia County agent)
Septic system permitting and site evaluations for parcels not on a public sewer system.
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Get local guidanceTopics Specific to Columbia County
Sources
- Oregon county approves rezoning farmland for industrial park expansion — Capital Press (accessed 2026-09)
- Third time not a charm: LUBA again sends Port Westward expansion back to county — Capital Press (accessed 2026-09)
- LUBA remands Port Westward rezone to Columbia County once again — Pamplin Media Group (accessed 2026-09)
- Court of Appeals upholds Port Westward ruling — Pamplin Media Group (accessed 2026-09)
- Port Westward: Protecting Farmland; Fighting Fossil Fuels — Crag Law Center (accessed 2026-09)
- Oregon Supreme Court Denies Petition for Review Filed by Columbia Riverkeeper — Port of Columbia County, Oregon (accessed 2026-09)
- Global Partners -- Port Westward, OR — Stand Up To Oil (accessed 2026-09)
- Columbia County: Agriculture vs. Industry — KBOO Community Radio (accessed 2026-09)
- Columbia County -- Planning — Columbia County, Oregon Government (accessed 2026-09)
Last reviewed 2026-09