Ann Arbor News - Builders could 'buy' density
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Builders could 'buy' density
Plan trades rights on farm space for taller buildings downtown
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
BY TRACY DAVIS
News Staff Reporter
A new twist on Ann Arbor's landmark farmland preservation program could greatly expand its scope.
Transfer of development rights is an idea recently introduced into the community conversation about saving agricultural land, and could allow officials to get more mileage out of the city's greenbelt program without further cost to taxpayers.
And though it's a new concept for many, it's already gaining steam.
Earlier this month, the Huron River Watershed Council announced it had received a $65,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation to promote and study a transfer of development rights program. The hope is to familiarize people with the idea and create support for it, said Chris Riggs of the watershed council.
A transfer of development rights, or TDR, program works by having two "zones'' - a sending zone and a receiving zone. Land is preserved and development slowed in the sending zone, typically a rural agricultural area that is under development pressure, in exchange for increasing density in the receiving zone, a more developed area closer to municipal services.
Around here, that might work like this: A builder buys development rights on a farm in a neighboring township, then transfers the ownership of rights to the city. In return, the city grants the developer the right to build a project, say, downtown, at greater density than would otherwise be permitted.
"Basically, you're bringing private money to the table to help save resources in the community,'' said Jennifer Dempsey of the American Farmland Trust.
An important element of TDR that makes it different from outright purchase of development rights, which is what the greenbelt program does, is that it directly ties preservation of open space to creation of new development in urban areas.
That was a key criticism during the greenbelt campaign: While land would be preserved, there was no obvious answer to where development could occur in its place. Opponents and some voters voiced concerns that housing would be pushed farther from town, and that competition for land would drive home prices up.
TDR, said Huron River Watershed Council Director Laura Rubin, "makes greater densities more palatable to people, because you are directly tying density and open space.''
"We talk a lot about building as much as we can downtown to stop sprawl, but ... anything we do alone won't stop sprawl,'' said Planning Commissioner James D'Amour. "There has to be a quid pro quo. With transfer of development rights, when you do have a new development that might happen downtown or in city limits, you specifically develop something and they contribute to the program.''
But the idea faces obstacles that make transferring development rights more complex than just buying them outright.
For starters, there is no enabling legislation in Michigan that permits transfer of development rights. That doesn't mean it's necessarily illegal, but there's no case law to help determine whether it's legal or not.
A city TDR committee and city attorneys recently sat down to discuss that issue, said Jennifer Hall, chairwoman of the city planning commission, who also sits on the TDR committee and the greenbelt advisory commission.
"It may just need to be tested,'' said Hall, who said she advocates that approach rather than waiting on state legislation. "It may have to be some sort of bold move the city has to take.''
Politics are another issue. While local leaders say there is support for greater density downtown, there is some vocal opposition from some people who say higher density translates into taller buildings.
And there is the issue of cooperation between governmental units. Because the sites are likely to cross municipal borders, that complicates matters.
A number of TDR programs exist around the country, and they vary in effectiveness, experts say. Some programs have never gotten off the ground; others have saved thousands of acres.
According to the 2000 survey by the American Farmland Trust, 50 jurisdictions nationwide had TDR ordinances on the books at the time.
Of those, three programs had been revoked and only 15 programs had protected more than 100 acres of farmland. A mere eight had protected more than 1,000 acres of farmland.
One of the oldest and most successful TDR programs is the one in Montgomery County, Md., which is often looked to as a model by other communities. To date, the program has protected 48,584 acres using TDR.
But it wasn't easy getting it started, notes John Zawitoski, director of planning and promotion for the county, and one of the biggest problems was identifying receiving zones the community could agree on.
"When you are being a trailblazer and you're charting uncharted waters, you are going to live and learn,'' he said. "We made mistakes.''
Despite the potential obstacles, the political will to make such a program happen is gaining steam here. At a joint meeting in March between some members of the Greenbelt Advisory Commission and the City Planning Commission, a committee was formed to look at feasibility issues of a TDR program.
And a city such as Ann Arbor, where voters have several times overwhelmingly agreed to tax themselves to preserve land, is good place to see how it might work in Michigan, some say.
Mayor John Hieftje said he supports the idea and that it would be a good complement to the greenbelt program.
"We're uniquely situated to be able to take advantage of something like that,'' he said, noting that another way the program might work would be to have developers simply pay into the greenbelt fund.
Developer Peter Allen offered to do so when his Kingsley Lane project in northwest downtown was up for a vote. In addition to offering several units of affordable housing in the development, he offered $50,000 to help kick-start a TDR program. The City Council accepted, adding the money to the greenbelt fund.
Allen said he supports a TDR program, and thinks other developers would be as well.
"I think any smart developer is going to say, 'I can do six, but I want to go eight,''' he said. Under a TDR they can "buy'' the extra two stories, while helping to preserve farmland and open space, he said.
Despite the support, TDRs aren't a sure bet by any stretch, experts say.
"We have some notable challenges,'' said Barry Lonik, a local land-use consultant. "I think the potential is there. But it takes even more leadership in the absence of other supportive mechanisms.''
"I think it's premature to say it will work in Ann Arbor,'' said Rubin, who has spoken publicly in favor of examining the idea at several meetings. "There are issues we need to look at and get public input on. But ... from what we have seen around the country, it's worth looking into.''
Tracy Davis can be reached at tdavis@annarbornews.com
or 734-994-6856.
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