Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/03/2008

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Developers need to recognize that their use of TDRs will result in betJer financial returns than developments that meet only by-right zoning. ing area, how TORs are calculated, proce- dures for severing TORs from land in the sending area, and the conservation ease- ment that is applied to land from which TORs have been severed; d. how TORs can be used in a receiving area, including a definition of the receiving area, how the use of TORs is calculated, design requirements and changes to base zoning standards (area and bulk standards), and the conditional use process and the land development and subdivision plan process for approval of a development that uses TORs; and e. definition in the ordinance spelling out whether the TOR program is mandatory or voluntary. Most are voluntary, allowing a landowner the choice of selling off a certain number of building lots and selling a cer- tain number of TORs. (Under a mandatory program, such as at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, a landowner may not be allowed to build on the property, but can still sell TORs.) HOW CAN THE TOR PROGRAM AVOID ZONING OBSTACLES? A TOR progrCjm blends financial incentives with planning and zoning. For a TOR program to be effective, developers need to recognize that their use of TORs will result in better financial returns than'developments that meet only by-right zoning. Local officials are often eager to encourage development in desig- nated growth areas and may grant developers bonus density in return for certain design fea- tures or infrastructure. ForTDR programs to work, local officials cannot "give away" den- sity in designated receiving areas. Any increase in density through a rezoning in a receiving area must require the developer to acquire and apply development rights. This requirement can be spelled out in the zoning ordinance. Local governments may find that there is some trial and error involved in setting by- right zoning in the sending and receiving areas and as bonus densities in the receiv- 90 ing areas. Don't be afraid to make@changes. Over time the TOR program may require occasional adjustments to the zoning ordi- nance to respond to changing conditions in the real estate market, changes in the com- prehensive plan, or density or land-use pro- visions that did not produce the intended outcomes. Community districts to one house per 20 acres, allowing only one house per four acres with the purchase of TORs (see McConnell et al,2007). A TOR program can incorporate bonus zoning through the use of multipliers. Multipliers are bonus TORs that reward devel- opers for building desirable developments in the receiving areas. For example, St. Lucie County, Rorida, gave one TOR per acre to landowners in its sending area because the underlying zoning is one dwelling unit per acre. A developer who buys a TOR can obtain a TOR bonus of :1.5 additional TORs for each TOR pur- chased by building workforce housing (based on 80 to :120 percent of the median area ~ '" o o N Calvert County, Maryland, began the nation's first county-level TOR program to pre- serve open space in 1978. Part of the program has featured a single-zone TOR in which the sending area and the receiving area are the same. Calvert County started with an existing zoning density standard that allowed one house per five acres and allowed one house per 2.5 acres in its Rural Community districts with the purchase ofTDRs. In 1999 the county attempted to slow development by downzon- Ing its Rural Community districts to one house per:1o acres, but allowed up to one house per two acres with the purchase ofTDRs. Then, in 2003, in the face of continued growth pres- sures, the county again downzoned the Rural household income), building higher education facilities, building a research and development park, or attracting a "targeted industry," such as an electronics man ufacturer. Developers want as much certainty as possible in the development process. Thus, expedited rezoning and subdivision and land development reviews are important to encourage developers to use TORs. West LampeterTownship in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, requires a developer to apply for a conditional use permit when proposing a development that uses TORs. The condi- tional use process means that the elected officials will have to vote on the project. Once the project receives condition'al use approval, ZONINGPRACTICE 12.07 AMERICAN PlANNING ASSOCIATION I page 4