Two weeks ago, I wrote about the massive number of Measure 37 land-use claims that were flooding the city, including two—oddly—from cemetery owners. In the article, I pointed out that the size and sophistication of the claims were going to make them harder for the city to fight, meaning city council may have to decide to grant some of them or pay out compensation for loss in property value.

But even before city council is faced with that decision, the claims are already costing the city tens—if not hundreds—of thousands of dollars in processing costs. Chris Dearth, the city’s M37 manager, says he’s had to bring on additional staff in order to meet the 180 day deadline on every claim—and those are labor hours the city will have to fund or divert from elsewhere.

Plus, Mayor Potter is now asking for an additional $45,000 to pay for appraisal services from Palmer, Groth & Pietka Valuation, Inc., which has done several appraisals on M37 claims in the past. The additional money could just be the start.

Of course, Portland’s woes are a drop in the bucket to other jurisdictions—our friends in Washington County have 593 claims on 20,497 acres.