Transfer of Development Rights
A
Brief Description
(Oldham
Ahead supports the draft Oldham County Comprehensive
Plan to include the concept of Transfer of Development Rights in the
document.)
Oldham County citizens value the rural nature of the county and have expressed in the Comprehensive Plan visioning sessions a desire to take actions to preserve the county’s scenic and agricultural landscapes.
The county can
establish a Transfer of Development Rights Program as one tool to retain land
essential to agriculture and to encourage its agricultural use, for the
protection of natural resources, to protect assets essential to the tourism
industry, and to maintain the quality of life which gives Oldham County its
competitive advantage in attracting appropriate new business entities.
A Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program is a private sector process for preserving farmland and other existing valuable open space land.
The program compensates property owners who voluntarily agree to restrict the future use of their land. TDR programs are designed to transfer the development potential from certain types of land, such as valuable resource lands and historic sites, to areas designated as more appropriate for growth.
The concept revolves around the idea that ownership of land entails ownership of a “bundle of rights” (i.e. the right to access, to mine mineral deposits, to lease land for farming practices, etc.). The landowner’s use of the rights contained in his “bundle” is limited by many factors, including zoning and land use regulations, building code provisions, environmental constraints, and other public policy restrictions.
Traditionally, when a property is sold, all the ownership rights associated with the property are also transferred to the buyer. A TDR program provides an alternative by enabling a landowner to separate and sell the development rights to a buyer while retaining ownership of the property and most other rights of ownership.
In consideration of the sale of development rights, the landowner voluntarily agrees to allow a conservation easement to be placed on the property, which restricts certain future uses of the property.
TDR establishes a market drive, incentive based mechanism, by which it becomes possible to sell development rights without actually buying or selling the land.
TDR involves establishment of a "sending" area, which the county wishes to preserve, and designation of a "receiving" area where growth is planned and adequate public facilities are in place or planned. For example, a developer purchases development rights (density) from a landowner in the sending zone and uses them to build at a higher density in the receiving zone.
The Rural or Natural Landscapes or Agricultural Districts might be designated as a "sending" zone for development rights. The TDR program would allow a higher density to be transferred than the allowable density if the farm was developed itself. This should make the sale of development rights more economically attractive for the farmer than to develop the agricultural land itself.
The Suburban or Town Landscapes and planned growth areas around towns and villages would be designated as "receiving" zones, allowing densities to increase if TDR's are purchased. The densities of the designated growth areas would be low, with TDR as the only means to permit higher densities, thereby encouraging the use of TDR's. The TDR Program will set out the maximum permitted densities for these areas.
