EUGENE — Lane County will allow a Christian group to expand a residential drug treatment center for women as part of a proposed settlement of a federal lawsuit.

County commissioners are expected to vote today on a consent decree allowing Teen Challenge International to house up to 20 women and children at a group care home in a rural area southwest of Eugene. The agreement could settle a long-running land use battle over expansion of the center.

But the agreement is between the county and Teen Challenge, and doesn’t include neighbors who have been fighting the project.

It’s unclear whether the neighbors will continue to oppose the center.

Lane County is not required to pay damages under the settlement, and each party will cover its own legal costs.

Teen Challenge estimates it has spent $158,000 pursuing a permit and has lost another $338,000 in revenue by not being able to expand, according to a settlement document.

Teen Challenge is a Missouri-based Christian group operating about 200 centers around the country, including five in Oregon, that provide faith-based alcohol and drug treatment to men, women and teenagers.

It established Hannah’s House on the 5-acre parcel it purchased in 2007, but currently is limited to five residents under county code and land use rulings in the case.

Teen Challenge sought permission to expand to 20 residents in 2008 with occupancy limited to women and their children plus three staff members. The county twice approved a special use permit for the center, but both approvals were overturned after neighbors appealed to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

At issue was whether wastewater from the expanded facility should be regulated more strictly than wastewater from a typical residential property. Neighbors argued that with so many people living on the property, the wastewater would require a larger septic system — one that the property might not be able to support.

That issue prompted the lawsuit, filed earlier this year, in which Teen Challenge alleged it was the victim of religious discrimination and accused the county of violating fair housing laws.

The group argued that federal law requires the county to make reasonable accommodations for the care home under the Americans with Disabilities Act, civil rights laws and the U.S. Constitution.

Attorneys for the county and Teen Challenge worked with U.S. District Judge Michael McShane to reach a settlement.

Under the deal, the county will allow the project to proceed without a special use permit or any other restrictions as long as wastewater from the facility doesn’t exceed certain limits.

The agreement also allows Hannah’s House to expand in three phases over the next year.