July 20, 2000
Land Use Meeting
Present:
Dean Culbertson, John Julius, Shirlee Schuette, Jason Weiss, Roger
Weihing, Barry Witthuhn, Stan Buman, Jim Ecker, Shirley Schuette. Paul Tassoul and Ken Zilisch were excused.
PDR/TDR and Farmland Preservation as
a Growth Management Strategy
The first presenter was Mike Koles from Winnebago County
UWEX. Mr. Koles spoke on Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).
Town of Greenville Learning
Objectives
·
What is a Transfer of Development Rights program?
·
What are the principles behind Winnebago County’s proposed
implementation strategies?
·
How might TDR fit into the Town of Greenville’s implementation
strategies?
What are Property Rights?
·
Property rights and ownership are legal concepts rooted in social
institutions. They refer not
simply to material objects, but to relationships between individuals and
institutions in society that govern access to material objects.
Property Right Concepts
The courts have defined four very
important concepts:
·
Community rights are more important than private rights (Harper, 1923)
·
Regulation of an owner/s use of their property is legal because they
receive benefits from having others’ use limited (Harper, 1923)
·
A regulation is legal if it furthers a public purpose and the landowner
can make an economic gain off of it (Zealy, 1996)
·
Government doesn’t guarantee the most profitable use (Just, 1972)
Regulatory Problems
·
Lack of Permanence
·
Whimsical Democracy
·
Inequitable
·
Compensatory Regulation
A system of regulation whereby a
property owner is financially rewarded (i.e. compensated) for the regulation
imposed upon him/her”
A Bundle of Rights
·
Possess
·
Sell
·
Lease
·
Exclude
·
Enjoy
·
Extract Minerals
·
Build a House
·
Grow Crops
·
Air Rights
You have a bundle of property rights
You can split a right away from the
bundle
You can split a right into its component
pieces
What are Development Rights?
·
The difference between the existing use of a parcel of land and its
potential use as permitted by existing law.
TDR
Rationale
·
Splitting the Bundle
·
Preservation
·
Provide Equity
·
Growth Management
·
Development still occurs
·
Voluntary
·
More Equitable than Strict Regulation
·
Avoid the Takings Issue
·
Cheaper than PDR
Basic TDR Elements
- Sending & Receiving Zones
- Dual Transfer District v. Single Transfer District
Pros & Cons
Who
gets what – supply & demand; Administration – need to keep track of –
GIS a must
- Retirement of Rights Administration
- Legality – Can’t do incorporated and
un-incorporated together
TDR Opponents
- Developers v. Environmentalists
- Market Based
- Tax Base Redistribution
- Inequitable Assignment of Rights – there is no way
to give rights out equally
Winnebago County
Implementation Principles
- Land Use
- Density – Number of units per a certain amount of
land
Rural, Rural Transition, Urbanizing
- Conservation Subdivision
- TDR
Comments
- Internal Inconsistencies
- Most Striking – Rural
- 8 Implementation Options
Max. and min. lot sizes
Density
Conservation
subdivision with open space requirements
Capital
improvements plan
Compensatory
regulation system
Impact
fees
Stormwater
planning
Rapid growth
Limit size of receiving area
Limit # of rights
GIS
Staff
- Difficult to Understand
- Politics
Ground that
is left untouched retains water. The
water will not run off like it does once equipment compacts the ground. Anything can be done with the open space, but be developed.
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PDR –
Purchase of Development Rights
Ed Minihan,
Director of the American Farmland Trust and Chairman from the Town of Dunn spoke
on PDR.
The valley
area is the third most endangered area for loss of farms.
PDR is not a regulatory
program
- It is fully voluntary
- Buyer essentially purchases the right to develop the
land and retires rights permanently
- Landowner retains rights and responsibilities
associated with being a landowner.
- Sale of development rights is recorded as an easement
attached to the deed
Price is defined as the difference between fair market value and open
space value
Goals
and Objectives
- To preserve farmland and support farm operations
- Maintain rural character and quality of life
- To protect environmentally sensitive areas and scenic
vistas
- To create buffer zones around agricultural lands and
environmentally sensitive areas
- To protect the Town from the encroachment of
neighboring cities
How
Does PDR Benefit Landowners?
- PDR is voluntary
- PDR retains property in private ownership
- PDR compensates the landowner for development value of
property making it financially feasible to continue farming.
- PDR retains land for farming while providing cash
assets for estate planning retiring debt and farm improvements
- PDR keeps farmland affordable for new farmers
It takes
money to run a PDR program. Services
are costly for residential land development.
How
does PDR Benefit Residents?
- Provides permanent protection of vulnerable lands and
important resources
- Retains scenic views of open space and farmland
- Preserves towns rural character and quality of life
- Reduces the growth of property taxes for public
services needed for residential development
In the
Town of Dunn, the price paid for PDR lands ran in the range of $800-$2000 per
acre.
This
week’s questions for the stakeholder group were:
- What are your impressions of protecting farmland
through PDR/TDR?
- How important is protecting farmland in Greenville?
Public Input
- Adopt PDR
- Won’t be able to develop if not in line to be
purchased
More
information on the Town of Dunn and farmland preservation can be found at: http://userpages.itis.com/towndunn or www.farmland.org
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