Skagit County is evaluating the creation of aconservation and development incentives program. The program would facilitate the voluntary conservation of farm, forest and open space lands, while encouraging development in urban areas and in a limited number of rural areas best suited for additional growth. The program would offer two ways for buyers and sellers to participate:
- A transfer of development rights (TDR) option would enable private-market transactions between receiving-area developers and sending-area landowners who negotiate a mutually agreeable price for the sale and transfer of development rights.
- A density credit option would allow developers to obtain additional development potential in receiving areas by purchasing density credits from the County or from a participating city or town based on an established fee schedule. The County would use density credit revenues to purchase development rights from willing landowners in sending areas.
Receiving areas are areas eligible for additional development potential through the purchase of density credits or the transfer of TDR credits. Sending areas are areas prioritized for conservation where landowners are eligible, on a voluntary basis, to sell development rights and place their land in a conservation easement.
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Planning Department Releases TDR Recommendations Report (July 2014)
In July of 2014, Skagit County Planning & Development Services released a report, Skagit County Transfer of Development Rights: Project Findings and Program Recommendations, which reflects nearly two years of work with a Board-appointed TDR Advisory Committee.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of TDR programs and methods and their potential use in Skagit County. It reflects the diverse views and opinions of TDR Advisory Committee members and others who have participated in discussions during the course of the project. It also draws on research and analysis conducted by Planning & Development Services staff with the help of two project consultants, Forterra and Heartland.
Additional information about TDR programs and related
issues:
- Final Skagit County TDR Market and Economic Analysis, Heartland, March 18, 2014
- Consultants
promote benefits of development rights transfers, Skagit Valley Herald,
March 21, 2014
- Whatcom
council seeks to revive transfers of development rights, Bellingham
Herald, March 13, 2014
- County
considers new TDR program, Skagit Valley Herald, 12/25/13
- A
Resource Guide to Designing Transfer of Development Rights Programs
in Washington State, Cascade Land Conservancy for Washington State
Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, June 2009
[Pdf]
- Washington
State Department of Commerce Transfer of Development Rights Main Page
- Ag
Prospects TDR Feasibility Study for Skagit County (2006)
- Skagit County TDR Feasibility Study – Interim Report (PowerPoint), Ag Prospects, December 4, 2006
- Markets
for Development Rights, Lessons Learned from Three Decades of a TDR
Program, Resources for the Future, December, 2012
- The
Future of Washington's Forests and Forest Industries, Final Report,
University of Washington College of Forest Resources July 31, 2007
See in particular Study
4: Forest Land Conversion in Washington State, including Section
6: Future incentive programs to maintain forest land in Washington
State, which identifies Transfer of Development Rights as one such
method.
- Skagitonians
to Preserve Farmland Resolution No. 2013-05 "Approving the
SPF Fair and Equal Consideration Policy to Frame and Guide the Organization's
Land Protection Efforts."
Includes the goal that "By 2020 there shall be a functioning
TDR market place in Skagit County which allows for smart community
growth and economic development while protecting our important and
valuable agricultural resources lands."
- Snohomish
County Ordinance No. 12-046, Amending the Land Use Chapter of
the Snohomish County Comprehensive Plan to Establish [Amend] a Countywide
Transfer of Development Rights Program, Approved October 17, 2012
Additional information about TDR programs and related issues:
TDR
Project Update with Board of County Commissioners, 11-26-13 [Skagit
TV21 video]
Powerpoint
slides for 11-26-13 TDR Project Update
Heartland
Presentation Slides for TDR Advisory Committee, 11-14-13
Presentation to Skagit County Planning Commission 9-10-13 [ppt]
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