Planning director: about 700 transferable development rights identified earlier; too soon to assess program change impact
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Summary
Director of Planning and Zoning Paul Connor told the council that roughly 700 transferable development rights (TDRs) were identified in a 2019 evaluation, with about 40% historically held by land‑trust interests; Connor said it is too soon to measure the effect of recent changes to the TDR program on market uptake.
South Burlington — The City’s director of planning and zoning updated the City Council on the transferable development rights (TDR) program and said a fuller assessment of recent changes is premature.
Paul Connor said a 2019 evaluation identified about 700 TDRs and that about 40% of those were held by Vermont Land Trust or similar conservation owners following earlier conservation transactions. Connor added that since 2019 the city amended natural resource protection district boundaries (2021) and removed some hazard areas, which shifted the count slightly, but the overall market response remains limited.
Connor noted that one recent project (Spear Meadows) purchased 18 TDRs to reach its approved unit count. He said the program was tested in court in previous years and remains an available tool, but that the market has not produced a steady stream of TDR transactions in the last 10 months, in part because few large projects have been proposed.
The council requested a follow‑up update in six months or a year to track whether TDR utilization increases as development interest evolves.
What to watch: Staff will return with periodic updates on TDR inventories, transfers and any changes in land‑trust holdings that affect the supply of development credits.