QuickTake:

Due to vehicle traffic in and out of the proposed facility, the project seeks an indirect pollution permit. The public can submit comments through mail or email to the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency.

Developers of a proposed e-commerce center near Eugene Airport are seeking a permit from the county’s air-quality agency.

The project is planned for south of Awbrey Lane between Greenhill Road and Highway 99. Construction is scheduled to begin in December and end by January 2027.

Commercial real estate development and investment firm Trammell Crow Co. submitted the permit application. The company has a history of developing e-commerce facilities and has previously worked on projects for Amazon, according to Eugene Weekly, which first reported the project.

Trammell Crow declined to comment when reached by Lookout Eugene-Springfield. 

The planned building is massive, with a central warehouse and distribution area totaling 286,680 square feet.

Developers are seeking what’s called an “indirect source” pollution permit from the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency because of the spike in automobile traffic and subsequent air pollution that would be caused by the facility. The permit application estimates an additional 2,592 vehicle trips each day would be coming to and from the facility.

The air agency is collecting public comment on the application through July 22.

Currently, Highway 99, which leads to the proposed facility, has average daily traffic of 16,911 vehicles in both directions. With the additional daily vehicle trips from the facility, the average road traffic would increase by about 15%.

While the development would directly impact traffic on Highway 99, the main road feeding into Eugene Airport, Andrew Martz, the assistant airport director, said the airport doesn’t anticipate interference with its daily operations. 

 “As far as we know, it doesn’t raise any flags,” Martz said. 

Alan Whalen, general manager of Fiddler’s Green Golf Center on Highway 99 north of the airport, is also not concerned with the increased traffic.

Whalen said he believed if the facility caused any significant increase in traffic, authorities would install traffic lights or “do what’s necessary.”

“So a facility that big has gotten an enormous amount of review and attention, so I suspect the powers that be will do it right,” he said.

The opportunity for public comment and opinion concerning the facility’s development remains open until Tuesday, July 22, at 5 p.m.

Matt Sorensen, a spokesman for LRAPA, said the agency already has received a number of comments on the application. Sorensen also said all comments would be made public, though it may take more than four business days after the deadline to process all of them.