Frequently Asked Questions

Fill out an application and return it to the library or email it to library@corneliusor.gov.

Yes! We have volunteers here seven days a week as early as 8 am and as late as 8 pm.

Yes! We value your time and will create a regular schedule we both can rely on.

Yes, we welcome programs that match your volunteer hours! Our Friends of the Library partner is a 501(c)3 non-profit that accepts donations that fund many library programs like the Summer Reading Challenge. Just let us know how we can help with the process.

Yes! Students needing to fulfill school community service and/or service-learning hours that commit to at least 3 months are welcome.

Maybe. The library occasionally has opportunities for community groups. Contact us for more information.

Please Note: The Cornelius Fire Department no longer requires Agriculture burn permits.

Before burning, please visit the open burning website (updated daily) and please contact the Washington County Dispatch Center at 503-629-0111 when burning large amounts of debris.

Agricultural Open Burning means the open burning of agricultural waste generated by an agricultural operation that uses, or intends to use, land primarily for the purpose of obtaining a profit in money by raising, harvesting, and selling crops or raising and selling animals (including poultry) or the produce thereof. The agricultural operation must be large enough to have a profit motive as a reasonable objective, large enough not to be confused with a personal garden or hobby.

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) class for residents within the City of Cornelius boundaries is a 3. Property owners living within the Cornelius Rural Fire Protection District (RFPD) who are within 5 miles of the station and within 1000 feet of a hydrant or approved water source have a fire protection class code of 3 as well. Those properties located beyond 5 miles of the station have a protection class code of 10. For further information, contact the Cornelius Fire Marshal at 503-357-3840.

View the Fire Marshal web page.

This information can be obtained by calling the Cornelius Fire Department at 503-357-3840.

View the Fire Marshal web page.

All Tours with the Fire Department need to be scheduled in advance.

Scheduling a tour in advance allows staff to better prepare a tour appropriate to the age level and size of the group.

To schedule a tour, contact us at 503-357-3840 during regular business hours or email us.

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To sign up for a CPR or First Aid Class or to schedule classes for your employees, please email the department at Fire@Corneliusor.gov or contact the fire station at 503-357-3840.

Street Address: 1311 N Barlow Street. The fire station is located on North Barlow Street, adjoining North 14th Avenue (across from the Cornelius Elementary School).

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The City Council adopted weed and garbage ordinances to improve and enhance livability within the City of Cornelius. These City Ordinances include Weeds 6.525, Nuisances Affecting the Public Health 6.505, and Obnoxious Vegetation 6.590. For a copy of the ordinances call Code Enforcement at 503-357-3840 or send an email us.

The Cornelius Fire Marshal is Division Chief Dave Nemeyer. To schedule a commercial and/or industrial inspection of your facility, please contact him at 503-357-3840.

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In 2025, the City of Cornelius ended its partnership with Forest Grove Fire & Rescue and reinstated its own Fire Chief to better support the community’s needs, following more than 18% population growth since 2018. Chief Dave Morris was appointed Fire Chief of the Cornelius Fire Department in March 2025 and currently serves in that role.

Cornelius firefighters are available to answer your questions over the phone, or you can schedule a home inspection by calling 503-357-3840.

Fire extinguishers need to be checked annually. Even though an extinguisher has not been used, it will lose pressure over time and/or the chemical within the extinguisher can compact. The fire department does not have the capability to service and/or inspect fire extinguishers. We suggest you look in the yellow pages of your phone book under "Fire Extinguishers."

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The fire department recommends cleaning of chimneys to prevent build-up of creosote and possible chimney fire. We suggest you look in the yellow pages of your phone book under "Chimney Cleaning" or "Chimney Builders and Repairs" for this service.

The Cornelius Community Development Department provides inspections of new woodstove installations for those residents within the City of Cornelius. You can reach the Community Development Department at 503-357-3011. For those residents living in unincorporated areas, please contact Washington County's Building Inspection/Permits Department at 503-640-3470.

Contact the Cornelius Fire Department at 503-357-3840. A firefighter trained in identifying children at risk and fire education will contact you. If you know of a child who shows interest in starting fires and/or playing with fire, please contact the Fire Department. Early intervention is extremely important and may save loss of life and property from a fire started by a child playing with fire.

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It is normal animal behavior to climb trees and structures. It is also normal that the animal will come down on its own, unless it is injured. If the animal appears to be injured, the Fire Department can be called to investigate the situation and determine whether the animal should be removed or allowed to come down on its own.

You can borrow books, videos, DVDs, CDs, microfilm, musical scores, and newspaper or journal articles. We cannot borrow video games (Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, etc.) at this time.

It is not possible to borrow items owned by WCCLS unless the item is in in-repair, lost, missing, unavailable or withdrawn status for two or more weeks.

It is not possible to borrow items published within the calendar year.

For items not available via ILL you can submit a Purchase Suggestion to your local library.

It is a good idea to allow 2 to 6 weeks for your Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to arrive. If material is sent from a nearby lender it comes much faster. There is not a definite answer to this question. If you need material for a research project, please order your material as far in advance as possible. Copies of articles will be delivered via e-mail and can often be delivered much sooner.

Loan period is determined by lending library, and materials can often be renewed. A lending library can ask for the immediate return of its material at any time or restrict use of the materials to inside the library.

There is no charge for most ILL requests. If a lending library charges a fee not covered by the library or county, we proceed only with your approval. As with all library items, you may be charged a fee for lost or damaged items.

Please fill out request form to request library outreach for your event or organization.

Services include:

• Answering reference questions
• Library card sign up
• Resources for parents, caregivers, teachers
• Storytimes
• Books

Yes, the outreach team can provide library cards at community events.

Outreach staff attend events, visit organizations, and schools within the City of Cornelius (Or within 10 miles of the library). We also partner with other city departments. Events that we attend should be free to the public.

We offer two types of Bookmobile Services:

Kids Bookmobile Service

The Kids Bookmobile Service visits schools, daycare centers, parks, special education programs, and community events. The Kids Bookmobile Service offers storytimes during school visits, wellness/STEM activities in parks in the summer, library card distribution, book-browsing, and borrowing. Our books and materials are for youth ages birth through 17. We welcome children and teens with disabilities. Choose Kids Bookmobile Service if your audience is children and young teens.

Bookmobile Service

Our Bookmobiles bring library services to you. Services include book-browsing, library card distribution, reference, and information services. And if you have an outing or program catering to a specific population or subject matter, we can develop a collection that will cater to your audience. Choose Bookmobile Service if you're aimed toward Older Adults, Adults, Teens, Tweens and Families and we can cater our collection to meet these audiences.

We offer three types of Community Outreach Services:

Library Staff Bring Library Services and Information to You (No Bookmobile)

Library staff visit classrooms, daycare centers, special education programs, and community events. Staff can offer storytimes during school visits, wellness/STEM activities, and library card distribution. Learn about the resources that WCCLS and Cornelius Public Library have to offer. Learn to use the library's website to get physical and digital materials.

Kids Bookmobile Service

The Kids Bookmobile Service visits schools, daycare centers, parks, special education programs, and community events. The Kids Bookmobile Service offers storytimes during school visits, wellness/STEM activities in parks in the summer, library card distribution, book-browsing, and borrowing. Our books and materials are for youth ages birth through 17. We welcome children and teens with disabilities. Choose Kids Bookmobile Service if your audience is children and young teens.

Bookmobile Service

Our Bookmobiles bring library services to you. Services include book-browsing, library card distribution, reference, and information services. And if you have an outing or program catering to a specific population or subject matter, we can develop a collection that will cater to your audience. Choose Bookmobile Service if you're aimed toward Older Adults, Adults, Teens, Tweens and Families and we can cater our collection to meet these audiences.

We offer two types of Community Outreach Services:

Group Visits

Visit the library as a group and check out materials. Plan your visit to the library ahead of time! We will make sure to have a designated library staff member available to answer questions and make checking out materials as easy as possible for your group.

Please note: Group visits to the library to check out materials should be scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance.

Guided Tours

Guided group tour of the library and educational experience. Plan a guided tour and educational experience in the library.

Please note: Tours and Educational experiences should be scheduled at least 3 weeks in advance.

Due to a lack of space, you can't pick up holds or return materials at the Bookmobiles. You also can't settle any library fees at the Bookmobiles.

Yes, you may use our online billing feature, come into the office or complete the backside of your bill. We also accept cash, check, or money order.

The City of Cornelius bills once a month. Bills are mailed by the last day of the month and due by the 10th of the following month (i.e. bills mailed at the end of January are due February 10th).

Each new utility account is charged a $25 account setup fee. This fee will be billed on your first billing.

The Mayor and the City Council members do not have offices at City Hall. They do receive mail and faxes at the City.

City Hall is located at 1355 N Barlow Street, off Adair and 14th Avenue, just past the Cornelius Elementary School. 

Hours

Monday thru Friday
9 am to 5 pm 

We are closed during the lunch hour.

• Public Works
  Phone: 503-357-3011
• Police and Fire Administration
  Phone: 503-359-1881

Yes. The website indexes web pages as well as PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, and text documents.

No. By default, the search results will show matches for any word within the phrase. In this example, you would receive results for all web pages and documents that contained either the word alarm or the word permit or both.

In order to search for an exact phrase, enclose your search phrase in quotations. The search results for "alarm permit" will show matches for that exact phrase.

Yes. You can exclude words by using the minus sign (-). In order to find the results of all pages that have alarm in the result but not permit, you would search for "alarm -permit."

Leaf Drop-Off is available in the Public Works yard (1300 S Kodiak Circle), Monday through Friday (8am - 3pm) during autumn. There is not an exact start date, but the service will be available when leaves begin to fall. Public Works offers additional drop-off on select Saturdays. For the leaf-drop off schedule, for the current or upcoming fall, visit the Public Works Streets Page. 

The City of Cornelius has one street sweeper and limited staff. Staff work to sweep every street in the City once a month, but there is not a consistent schedule or route. If you believe your street is being skipped or you would like to coordinate with City staff, please call Public Works at 503-357-3011. Please note, the street sweeper is not able to handle large amounts of debris. Leaves and other yard debris need to be removed by property owners by other means. 

Sidewalk and street tree maintenance is the responsibility of the abutting property owner. Before performing any maintenance in the right-of-way, call Public Works (503-357-3011) for sidewalk standards and a Public Works Permit application.

There are multiple items to consider when determining if a tree can be removed or replaced. The first item is the tree location. Street trees require City Engineer approval before removal or replacement. If you are unsure if the tree in question is a street tree, then please call Public Works (503-357-3011) for assistance. Trees outside of the right-of-way, on private property, are not in the City's purview. The next item to consider is what work is being done. If the tree removal or replacement includes digging, the City recommends visiting callbeforeyoudig.org (or dial 811) to have utility lines marked near your property. These markings can help reduce the risk of damaging utility service lines. Additionally, street tree removal or replacement may require a Public Works permits; call Public Works (503-357-3011) to determine if that applies to you. The last item to consider is tree variety options for replacement. City staff advocate for tree replacement over removal and follow the recommended street tree lists provided by the City of Portland. This list takes many factors into consideration and provides detailed information about the style and size of the approved trees. 

Note:  There are occasional tree diseases and infestations that preclude them from approval. Before purchasing new trees, call Public Works and ask about any current tree exclusions. 

The City of Cornelius does not maintain property line maps. The only way to know where your property lines are exactly is to have the property surveyed. The City does not have a surveyor on staff. For property maps and legal descriptions, visit the Washington County Assessment & Taxation Department. 

Many events, especially those which may draw crowds to the city, or include commerce on property beyond its typical use, require a Temporary Use Permit (TUP). The purpose is to review "the potential of adverse impact on surrounding property created by temporary activity" (CMC 18.120.010). If in doubt, please call the Community Development Department at 503-357-3011.

Examples of activities requiring a TUP: Car shows, Christmas Tree stands, Fairs, Fireworks stands, Vendor shows

The TUP application is available here: Temporary Use Permit

A Zoning Map is provided for your convenience. Here is a link to the Cornelius Municipal Code (CMC) where you can find regulations for your property based on its zone: Title 18 Zoning

Additions are subject to zoning provisions in the Cornelius Municipal Code (CMC) Chapter 18. A Design Review (Type 1) Application is required. The City of Cornelius contracts building services through the Forest Grove Building Division. Land use approval through Cornelius is required before applying for building permits.

If you would like an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU), then those regulations are outlined in the Cornelius Municipal Code (CMC) section corresponding to the underlying zone where the property is located. 

Please contact staff in the Community Development Department to discuss any modifications to your home.

Accessory structures are regulated by CMC 18.150.010. If an accessory structure is less than 200 square feet in size, then no building permits are necessary. However, the structure must meet the general provisions of the code (ex: setbacks, height). If it is more than 200 square feet in size, then land use review and building permits will be required. Accessory structures greater than 450 square feet will require a Conditional Use Permit. If you have questions about accessory structures, then please contact the Community Development Department directly. 

Standards for fences are outlined in CMC 18.150.020 Fences. We also provide a Fence Brochure summarizing these standards for your convenience.

Opening a food cart in Cornelius requires a business license and a Mobile Vendor Permit. You must submit a Mobile Vendor Permit Application as outlined in CMC 5.35.070 to be considered for approval. The application is available online, and any questions should be directed to the Community Development Department at 503-357-3011.

Sign regulations vary by zone and are detailed in Section 18.175 of the Cornelius Municipal Code (CMC). A sign permit and fee payment may be required. Depending on the type of sign, a building permit may be required from the Forest Grove Building Division. Here's a link to a guide for political signs which addresses requirements for temporary campaign signs. 

Please contact the Community Development Department in advance to allow time for physical records to be retrieved. 

Regulations vary. Please refer to the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC) regarding child care licensing. Their contact information is available online. A City of Cornelius business license is necessary. If you have other questions, then please contact the Community Development Department. 

The City of Cornelius contracts building services through the City of Forest Grove Building Division. Please note: Electrical Permits are reviewed through Washington County. 

As a sanctuary state since 1987, Oregon stands for the safety, dignity and human rights of all Oregonians. Oregon was the first state in the nation to pass a statewide law stopping state and local police and government from helping federal authorities with immigration enforcement.  In the ensuing decades, the law was updated several times.

To strengthen existing sanctuary laws, the Sanctuary Promise Act (HB 3265 ») was passed in 2021. The Act increases safety and protection measures for immigrant communities through increased support, as well as transparency and accountability regarding government interactions with federal immigration authorities.

No. It is against Oregon law for state and local law enforcement or public agencies (state and local government offices) in the state of Oregon to participate directly or indirectly in immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant. Federal immigration authorities are prohibited from operating private detention centers or accessing non-public spaces in jails.  State and local police are prohibited from acting on non-judicial warrants (see the Oregon Department of Justice Glossary).  The Sanctuary Promise Act requires all requests made by federal agencies to state and local law enforcement and government agencies regarding immigration enforcement without a judicial order to be documented, reported, and denied. There may be exceptions to each of these.

No. Local governments have no authority to enforce federal immigration laws unless they enter into agreements with the federal government. Without a voluntary agreement, a local government official has no authority to enforce federal immigration law.

Community members can identify Washington County law enforcement patrol officers by the uniform and badges they wear. Please note that while patron officers wear uniforms, detectives and certain special police teams will wear plain clothes. All Cornelius Police officers will identify who they are when asked and do not work with federal immigration officers. 

Washington County Law Enforcement Identification Guide: English | Español