Transfer of Development Rights

Programs that are responsible for making the decision to implement transfer of development rights (TDR), an innovative way of regulating land use that involves shifting the location of development to the areas most suitable for it, while maintaining the community's overall number of housing units. TDR programs are enabled by a local or regional ordinance that creates "sending areas" (to be preserved) and "receiving areas" which have increased densities. Developers purchase the development rights from the sending area and use them to increase existing or planned densities in the receiving areas. TDR programs have been most successful in areas that have very limited open space opportunities and the community is collectively motivated to keep what open space is left.