The Benton County Planning Commission denied Republic Services’ application to expand the Coffin Butte Landfill, concluding a comprehensive review process that spanned more than three months.
Commission members unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt their final written decision denying the application. The vote came after an hour of discussion focused on finalizing the document containing their findings of fact and conclusions of law.
The decision represents the culmination of an extensive public review process that began April 29. Planning commissioners heard more than 20 hours of presentations and testimony from county staff, consultants, Republic Services representatives and community members across multiple in-person meetings.
The commission’s formal deliberation took place July 22 during a nearly four-hour session. Prior to reaching their decision, commissioners reviewed thousands of pages of application materials, technical reports, exhibits and written public testimony.
During the July 29 meeting, commissioners discussed and voted on minor corrections to the final document. Under quasi-judicial land-use procedures, only technical corrections were permitted without reopening the deliberation process. A motion was made to reopen deliberations, which would have extended the timeline, but it failed to receive a second and was not pursued.
Republic Services and other interested parties now have 14 days from July 29 to file an appeal with the Benton County Board of Commissioners. The appeal deadline is 5 p.m. Aug. 12. Any appellant must pay the full cost of the appeal process to the county, beginning with a required $5,000 deposit due at the time of filing.