City planners signed off Thursday on the first Google "fiber hut" in Portland, another milestone in Google Fiber's slow march toward bringing its hyperfast Internet service to the region.

Plans call for a 500-square-foot enclosure on Water Bureau property in Southwest Portland. It would be one of several fiber huts Google plans around the city to operate its network.

Google Fiber offers Internet connections up to 1 gigabit per second, 40 times faster than the current federal broadband standard, and accompanying cable TV and phone service. Service starts at $50 a month for a 100 megabit connection, up to $140 a month for a full gigabit connection, cable TV and home phone service.

Google Fiber has been contemplating Portland service since February 2014 and won a franchise to operate in the city two years ago. But a state Supreme Court ruling in the fall of 2014 made Google subject to an unusual Oregon tax, derailing the project until lawmakers and regulators created an exemption.

Though Google Fiber has yet to formally commit to serve Portland, it has hired local personnel and begun talking with neighborhood associations about routes for its network. The project approval Google won Thursday could serve as a template for additional sites, but the city said it has not yet received other applications from the company.

Google did not immediately respond Friday to an inquiry on its plans.

According to the city's approval, Google's fiber hut consists of a small equipment building and backup generator behind a high wooden fence.

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway