Plan serves public
good, respects property rights
THE NEWS
TRIBUNE
Published:
The
Pierce County Council, set to vote today on a transfer-of-development rights proposal,
finds itself at a pivotal point in shaping the county’s future quality of life.
The council could decide to continue business as usual,
leaving much of the county’s irreplaceable and productive farmlands and forests
in jeopardy of development.
The council could simply accept the prospect of wall-to-wall
subdivisions and commercial development in what’s left of the county’s best
agricultural lands, primarily in the
But the smarter and more responsible choice is to approve
the proposed transfer or purchase of development rights program. It is a
well-crafted and fair plan that respects property rights and uses the
mechanisms of the marketplace to serve the public good.
The TDR proposal was developed with the help of the Cascade
Land Conservancy, a regional nonprofit that promotes collaborative ways of
allowing for responsible growth. Transfer or purchase of development rights is
just such a tool.
The beauty of a TDR plan is that it is market-driven. No
farmer or rural landowner is forced to sell his property, nor is he deprived of
the opportunity to realize the “nest egg” value of his property.
The owner of valuable agricultural land can sell or transfer
his development rights to a developer. In return, the developer acquires the
right to built to a greater density in areas where it makes sense to encourage
growth.
The plan has drawn strong support from former
“One of the largest issues facing
A TDR program would give the state the option of selling
development rights for state-owned forest lands that otherwise would be sold
for development. More forest in the so-called “urban interface” areas of
Developers worry that the TDR program will drive up the cost
of buildable land and thus housing prices as well. They also want the program to be voluntary rather than
mandatory.
In fact, lands eligible for transfer of development rights
are already zoned for timber or agriculture; they are not included in the
county’s present inventory of buildable lands. And
the plan will work properly only if developer participation is mandatory.
Voluntary approaches elsewhere have been ineffective without large taxpayer
subsidies.