Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Transfer of Development Rights TDR
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Development patterns based on conventional zoning create less than
optimal conditionsOverdeveloped
Residential SprawlUnderdeveloped
Commercial Centers
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Transfer of Developments Rights Two-Fold Objective
Preserve Existing Open Space
Concentrate Development in Growth Centers
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Development Rights
Sending Areas
TDR Definitions
The amount of development that could take place on a tract of land under Zoning Bylaw provisions.
Areas identified as priorities for preservation or significant decreases in development potential.
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Receiving Area
TDR Credit Bank
TDR Definitions (continued)
A third party entity that can store and administer the sale of development rights.
Areas that have potential to support more development than what is allowed by existing bylaws and/or regulations.
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Transfer of Developments Rights The Concept
preservation areapreservation area
Owner of “sending” Owner of “sending” parcel sells development parcel sells development rights in exchange for rights in exchange for permanent conservation permanent conservation easement.easement.
Owner of “receiving” Owner of “receiving” parcel buys parcel buys development rights development rights to build at densities to build at densities higher than allowed higher than allowed under base zoning.under base zoning.
growth areagrowth area
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Potential Sending Areas
• Prime Agricultural Lands• Chapter 61 parcels• Large Tracts of Unprotected Open Space• Aquifer Protection Overlays• Areas of Critical Environmental Concern• Habitat for Rare and Endangered Species• Watersheds to Sensitive Surface Waters• Historic Districts or Structures
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Potential Receiving Areas
• Village Centers• Transportation Nodes• Commercial or Industrial Districts• Areas Served by Infrastructure
– Centralized Water Supply– Centralized Sewer System– Public Transportation Routes
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Sending and Receiving Areas Should Be Identified Through A
Comprehensive Planning Process
Sending and Receiving Areas Should Be Identified Through A
Comprehensive Planning Process
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
The future with conventional zoningThe future
TDR: Alternative Futures
The future with TDR zoningThe present
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Implementing TDRThe Basic Questions
• Clearly Defined Sending and Receiving Areas– “What are the resources we need to
protect?”– “Where can we handle increases in
development capacity?”
• Adequate Administrative Capacity– “Do we have a permitting body that clearly
understands the program?”– “Do we need a TDR Credit Bank?”– “Will the City/Town play a role in establishing
the value of development rights or will the market be used to establish value?”
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
CASE STUDYCASE STUDY
Sending Area identified as 90,000 acres of undeveloped agricultural land. Area down-zoned from 5-acre minimum lot size to 25-acre minimum. Development rights can be traded at the original density.
Montgomery County, MarylandMontgomery County, Maryland
Receiving areas identified by proximity to existing infrastructure. Density bonuses awarded at varied scaled depending on the location of the Receiving Area.
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Seattle, Seattle, WashingtonWashington
CASE STUDYCASE STUDY
Complex urban TDR Program relies heavily on a TDR Credit Bank to facilitate transactions.
Primary goals:• Preserve Historic Structures• Preserve Existing Affordable
Housing• Incentives for Varied Building
Scale• Infill Development of Compatible
Character
W Hotel Development
YMCA Building
Restoration
Paramount Theater
Restoration
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
Falmouth, MAFalmouth, MACASE STUDYCASE STUDY
Sending Areas Identified through Careful Planning Process:
• Water Resource Protection District• Chapter 61A Parcels • Areas of Critical Environmental Concern• Coastal Resource Overlay District
Receiving Areas are eligible for Density Bonuses that vary between 20% to 40% depending on the underlying zoning
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
USEFUL LINKS:USEFUL LINKS:
government.cce.cornell.edu/doc/html/Transfer%20of%20Development%20Rights%20Programs.htm
TDR Programs: Using the Market for Compensation and Preservation, , a paper written by Jason Hanly-Forde, George Homsy, Katherine Lieberknecht, Remington Stone that gives a good overview of this technique.
www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bpoladm/suswshed/pdfs/tdrreprt.pdf
Transfer of Development Rights Report‘, ‘, a study produced for the South County Watershed Technical Planning Assistance Project by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. It is one of several reports about creative land use techniques to accommodate growth while minimizing impacts to the environment and community character.
www.farmlandinfo.org/documents/27746/FS_TDR_1-01.pdf
A Fact Sheet from the Farmland Information Center, a public/private partnership between the American Farmland Trust and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Smart Growth / Smart Energy Toolkit Transfer of Development Rights
USEFUL LINKS:USEFUL LINKS:
www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/pub-detail.asp?id=424Transfer of Development Rights for Balanced Development, an article (author Robert Lane, 1998) from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy providing conceptual overview as well as some details regarding TDR case law.
www.state.nj.us/dca/osg/resources/tdr/index.shtml
TDR: How Does It Work?, a webpage from the NJ Department of Community Affairs' Office of Smart Growth, provides a good overview of the technique.
www.nj.gov/agriculture/sadc/tdr.htm
New Jersey State Transfer of Development Rights Bank webpage from the NJ Department of Agriculture.
www.state.nj.us/dobi/pinelands/pinelandsbank.htm
Pinelands Development Credit Bank webpage from the NJ Department of Banking and Credit gives information about a program begun in 1985 which has helped increase the value of development rights and assisted owners in selling their land.