Senate panel gives favorable report to bill allowing transferable development rights

Senate Bill 288, which would authorize local governments to adopt ordinances allowing voluntary transfers of development rights between parcels, received a favorable report from a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee following testimony and brief questions.

The bill would permit a local government, by ordinance, to allow transferable development rights (TDRs) so that development rights from a "sending" parcel can be sold and recorded to a "receiving" parcel; the sending parcel would be restricted to prevent future development. Paula (staff member) described the measure to the subcommittee as a local-authority, enabling statute: "This bill would allow local governments to provide by ordinance for voluntary transfers of developmental rights from 1 parcel of land, which would be called the sending property, to another parcel of land, the receiving property." Paula also said the transfer "would be conveyed with the property and would restrict development in the future."

Zack Buier, land, water and ocean project manager for Conservation Voters of South Carolina, testified in support and framed TDRs as a market-based tool to protect landscapes without relying solely on government purchases of land. "In effect, it'll work like a conservation easement, on that land in perpetuity," Buier said, adding that the model directs private investment into land protection rather than relying only on taxpayer-funded acquisition. He described the bill as permissive — no locality would be compelled to adopt a TDR program — and said it provides guardrails and legal clarity for local governments that want to establish such programs.

Committee members asked procedural and practical questions, including how a transferred development right affects the residual value of the underlying parcel and whether existing local ordinances would be affected. Paula noted the bill would not disturb transfers already made under local ordinances and listed localities she said already have transfer ordinances: Beaufort County, Bluffton, Daufuskie Island, Greenville and Richland. A committee member from Greenville observed that Greenville's program was established in 1985 and, like many TDR programs, had a natural lifecycle tied to supply and demand.

The subcommittee voted to give Senate Bill 288 a favorable report and said it would be reported to the full Judiciary Committee. The transcript records a voice vote and the clerk recorded the item as receiving a favorable report; the transcript does not include a roll-call tally.