TDR Today
Current Programs Throughout the U.S.
Thurston County, Washington
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Pop 245,181 (2008 Census)
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1994 TDR Feasibility Study
– American Farmland Trust determined
demand for TDRs marginal in cities
• Farmers
• Decade for market development
– Based on study not community planning
process
1996 TDR Adopted
Survey Requirement
Transfer Rate
– One TDR per five acres
• No incentive, no real “bonus”
Intermediate Parties
– Banked, retired
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Olympia
– Allows density decreases from five to
four units per acre
• Sustainable, no? Desirable, yes!
• Height and Parking Restrictions
Urban Growth Areas
– Requires credits
Comp. Plan Limiting
– Recommendations
• Inform the Public
• Working Lands Advocate
• Mitigation Strategies
Purchase of Development Rights (PDR)
– Working Lands Strategic Plan more
focused on PDR v. TDR
Buyers and Sellers
– No banking mechanism
King County, Washington
•Pop. 1,737,034(2000)
•Origins of program in
1994 Comprehensive Plan
•1998 County adopted a
3-year pilot program
•2001 County adopted
program permanently
•2005 County used $22
million of Conservation
Futures Tax Revenues to
secure 990 TDRs or
90,000 acres in
Snoqualmie Forest,
thereby preserving the
most acreage of any
single TDR program in the
United States.
King County, Washington
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County is Facilitator & Broker
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Oversee transactions
Track sale prices
Education/Outreach
“Market Maker”
Auctions ???
•R-1 properties = 4TDRs per 1 Acre
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Purchased 1,124 TDRs
Holdings 1075 credits
Sold 49 tdrs
Create City and County Partnerships
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Amenity Funding
Leverage Public Money (CFT$)
County allocates $500,000 for
incorporated receiving areas to improve
amenities and offset the impacts of
increasing density.
Receiving Sites
•1 TDR = 2 additional units
•%50 “By Right” density allowance
•6 units per acre can increase to 9
Buy, hold, sell TDRs
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Sending Sites
•1 TDR = 5 Acres of Gross land area
TDR Bank
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Private Market Statistics as of 2008
•Current price range $15,000 $26,000
•520 Total TDR credits severed
•301 TDR credits redeemed
•2000 Acres preserved by private TDR
market
• Over 91,000 total Acres of Land Preserved
Calvert County
• 74,563 Population (2000
Census)
• Sending Sites:
– Agriculture Preservation District
(APD)
• Zoned 1/25 acre
• Transfer rates 1/5 acre
– Difference in Sending Sites
• Land in APD only at request of
owner
• Receiving Sites:
– Farm Communities/ Resource
Protection District
– Rural Community District
• 1/10 acre -1/2 acre (Downtown)
• Agriculture Preservation
Advisory Board
• APD can be removed after 5
years
Why It’s Working
• Profitable
• People want to farm
• Purchase and Retirement
(PAR)
• Developable receiving sites
• Marketing and Educating
• County participation
• Unique Feature:
• TDR sold, entire property under
a conservation easement
*8,900 Acres Preserved (2001)
TDR Sales 1980-2001
Montgomery County
• 871,341 Population (2000
Census)
• 323,000 Acres
• 1980 TDR Program
– Sending: Rural Density Zone
(RDT)
• Zoned 1/25 w/ exceptions
– Receiving: Zoning Districts
• Two density limits
– Baseline
– Higher limit control
• Incentives
– Speed of Approval
– County Development Rights Fund
(1982-1990)
• Savings: 68 million in public
expenditures
Why It’s Working:
• TDR main option for exceeding base
zoning
• Location: near Washington D.C.
• Easy and Predictable
– Educating the public
What’s Not Working:
• Approval Process
• Inequities in Compensation
• Incorporated Municipalities
– No Participation
*40,583 Acres Saved (2000)
The Pinelands,
New Jersey
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Seven Counties
53 Municipalities
Pop. 700,000
Total 938,000 acres
Close proximity to Philadelphia,
New York, Atlantic City.
• 1978 Congress created Pinelands
National Reserve
• 1979 New Jersey passed
Pinelands Protection Act
• 1981 Comprehensive
Management Plan enacted
The Pinelands, New Jersey
• Pinelands Commission
• 15 member Commission
• + Executive director of 50 person staff
• Works on Federal, State, County &
Municipal levels
• Managed CMP, Oversees PDC Banks
• Comprehensive Management
Plan (CMP)
• Land Use Regulation
• Land Management
• Voluntary TDR Program: Pinelands
Development Credits (PDCs)
• Two PDC Banks
• $5 Million Initial funding from State
General Fund
• Burlington County Pinelands Development
Credit Exchange
• New Jersey Pinelands Development Credit
Bank
– Responsibilities
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Program facilitator
Administration
Public Education
Purchase PDRs & PDCs
Hold Credits for developers
Manage Website
• PDCs Value and Application
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1 PDC = 4 units
Can be used as collateral against loans
Can be held as investment
Used to increase density above current code
in receiving areas
Since the CMP has been
implemented in 1981, PDCs
have preserved over 55,000
acres of Environmentally
Sensitive Areas and Farmland
Characteristics of Functioning TDR
Program
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Public Education
Strong and Dynamic Leadership
Consistent regulatory process
TDR Bank
Ease of use
Public accessibility
Strong sense of place
Resource perceived as valuable
Appropriate receiving areas
Market Demand
American Farmland Trust "Purchase of Development Rights and Transfer of Development Rights Case Studies" American Farmland Trust
(2001).
Aken, Jeff, Eckert, Jeremy, Fox, Nancy and Swenson, Skip. Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) in Washington State: Overview,
Benefits, and Challenges." Cascade Land Conservancy (2008)
Bratton, Nicholas, Eckert, Jeremy and Fox, Nancy. "Alternative Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Transaction Mechanisms."
Cascade Land Conservancy (2008)
Jasey, Neil N. "State of New Jersey: Pinelands Development Credit Bank, Annual Report 2009." (August 2009),
http://www.njdobi.org/pinelandsbank.htm (accessed March 21, 2010)
Kaplowitz, Michael D., Machemer, Patricia, Pruetz, Rick. "Planners' experiences in managing growth using transfeable development
rights (TDR) in the United States." Land Use Policy 25 (2008): 378-387.
Machemer, Patricia L. and Kaplowitz, Michael D. "A Framework for Evaluating Transferable Development Rights
Programmes." Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 45(6) (2002): 773-795.
Montgomery, Carlton. "State of the Pinelands 2009: Annual Report." Pinelands Preservation Alliance (2009),
www.pinelandsalliaance.org (accessed March 21, 2010).
Pruetz, Rick. Beyond Takings and Givings: Saving Natural Areas, Farmland, and Historic Landmarks with Transfer of Development
Rights and Density Transfer Charges. Marina Del Ray, California: Arje Press, 2003.
U.S. Census Bureau. Calvert County Maryland (2000) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/24009.html (Accessed March 25, 2010).
U.S. Census Bureau. Montgomery, Maryland (2000) http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24000.html
(Accessed March 25, 2010).
Walls, M. 2007 Transfer of Development Rights in U.S. Communities: Evaluating Program Design, Implementation and Outcomes
http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/Walls_McConnell_Sep_07_TD R_Report.pdf
Davis, Jeremy. "2-D Working Lands Staff Report Comprehensive plan Policy Changes" Thurston County Planning Department.
January 6, 2010. http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/planning/planning_commission/agenda/1-610/Preliminary%20Working%20Lands%20Staff%20Report.010610.FINAL.pdf (Accessed April 1, 2010).
“A Study of PDR and TDR for Boone County, Kentucky” Boone County Planning Commission. Sept. 2001.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oHt2hSWhPfcJ:www.boonecountyky.org/PC/PDR_TDR.pdf+thurst
on+county+tdr+credits+sold&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (Accessed April 2, 2010).