Amazon’s Oregon buildout shifts to smaller warehouses and, sometimes, bigger fights with local residents

By MIKE ROGOWAY/The Oregonian/OregonLive

Amazon is expanding its Oregon delivery network beyond massive warehouses, moving into smaller facilities outside the Portland area to expedite deliveries in rural areas and modest-sized cities.

The online retail giant plans distribution centers in Tillamook, Redmond, Hood River and Eugene. Already, Amazon has begun offering same-day and next-day delivery in three rural Oregon communities and will add many more in the months to come.

As Amazon expands its Oregon footprint, though, it is bumping up against residents in some places who are worried about traffic and environmental impacts, or about the Seattle company’s business practices.

Nowhere in Oregon has the reaction been fiercer than in Eugene, Oregon’s third-largest city. Dozens of residents have inundated city council meetings with a litany of objections to Amazon’s plans for a distribution hub northwest of the city center, near Eugene’s airport.

The critiques haven’t derailed Amazon’s plans and don’t appear likely to block the company from moving onto land zoned for industrial development. Amazon hasn’t said when it plans to start building its 320,000-square-foot Eugene warehouse but says it’s in the final stages of permitting.

The company says smaller delivery stations bring big-city convenience and amenities beyond Portland. And Americans’ appetite for online ordering appears boundless. E-commerce sales represent 16% of all U.S. retail sales, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve, up from about 10% in 2019. 

In Eugene, though, many residents of the famously left-leaning city want no part of that. More than 70 spoke against Amazon’s plans at city council meetings last fall and winter.

“In a city that prides itself on being green, if this is sustainability, it’s the Amazon Prime version: Fast, convenient and someone else pays the cost,” Victoria Acosta testified at a January council meeting. “Eugene is not a fulfillment center. We are a community.”

Getting small

Amazon already has huge Oregon warehouses in Troutdale, Portland, Salem, Klamath Falls and Woodburn. It operates smaller ones in communities including Klamath Falls and a new site in Tillamook.

The company used to collect millions in local tax breaks for the projects — $15 million, just from 2019 to 2022. The Legislature outlawed incentives for retail delivery warehouses 3 years ago after The Oregonian/OregonLive tallied up the size of the tax breaks and local retailers questioned why the government was giving huge incentives to a big rival from out of state.

Amazon has continued expanding across Oregon, even without the government incentives. The $500 million Woodburn warehouse it opened last year is its biggest in the Northwest: 3.8 million square feet.

Lately, though, Amazon has been getting smaller.

The Eugene distribution hub will be less than one-tenth the size of its Woodburn site. The Redmond facility, due to open later this year, is even smaller at just 84,000 square feet. The Hood River site would be less than 50,000 square feet, about the size of a typical Safeway grocery store.

Amazon says the smaller warehouses are a final stop for packages before they go out for delivery. The company says these “delivery stations” have fewer long-haul trucks than its big warehouses and that delivery vans mostly come and go outside rush hour, reducing their traffic impact.

Some residents and businesses aren’t persuaded.

Thrive Hood River, a nonprofit that aims to preserve the region’s resources and community, has warned that traffic from Amazon’s local facilities could overwhelm the rural roadway where the company intends to operate. The planning commission in Hood River County heard the appeal Wednesday evening and expects to rule late next month.

Traffic is also a concern in Eugene. Some residents say Amazon’s site is along a dangerous stretch of highway that will become more hazardous with the delivery station nearby.

Others testifying before the Eugene City Council have objected to Amazon’s contracts with the federal government, potential damage to wetlands near the 85-acre site, and working conditions inside Amazon’s warehouses. Others complain that Amazon tried to keep its identity secret while it was planning its site, even as the Eugene Weekly reported the tech company was likely behind the project.

Amazon says it disclosed its plans as soon as it purchased the land and has tried to be responsive to concerns from residents in Eugene. It notes the land had been vacant for many years and will bring up to 200 new jobs to the city, plus more through construction and support.

The company says it will pay at least $18 an hour in Eugene and that similar projects nationally average $23 an hour.

“There will be questions and sometimes concerns from the community, and that’s very natural,” said Amazon spokesperson Farah Jad. “We’re committed to being transparent.”

Fresh skepticism

When public officials or city planners approve controversial projects, they often say it’s because the developments comply with the law and they don’t have the ability to change that retroactively.

“The zoning code regulates general land use categories (uses) and does not limit specific companies or owners (users). As such, the city cannot deny a building permit based on the ownership of the business,” the city of Eugene wrote on a web page about Amazon’s project, adding bold lettering for emphasis.

Eugene’s reaction to Amazon’s project reflects changing perceptions of the company and technology, according to former Mayor Kitty Piercy.

“Ten years ago there was a big appetite for tech business. Now we all have varying levels of skepticism,” Piercy wrote in an email. Eugene residents care deeply about their neighbors, she said, questioning whether public officials have really weighed the costs and benefits.

“It seems to me this land was supposed to be for good dependable well-paying manufacturing businesses,” said Piercy, who has no role in the city’s approval process. “Does this really fill that criteria?”

Eugene has a history of incorporating civic values into its governance, according to longtime resident Kristi Schneider.

“Some people view that as positive and some people view that as anti-growth, anti-business, causing Eugene to be stuck,” said Schneider, who works for a local nonprofit. “I’m an environmentalist but I’m a pragmatist also. I agree those things are important. I agree we do need more jobs and the city needs more revenue.” 

Nonetheless, Schneider said Eugene should have laws and regulations in place to ensure that businesses arriving in the city conform with the community’s values. She said she boycotts Amazon, preferring to shop at locally owned stores and at businesses that show they care for their employees’ well-being.

“I want our city and businesses and community to thrive while also protecting our environment and our beautiful natural spaces,” Schneider said. “I want us to ask critical questions when we partner with national companies and decide to allow them into our community.”

This story was originally published on April 23, 2026 by The Oregonian/OregonLive.