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Senate Judiciary subcommittee backs bill letting local governments enable transferable development rights
Summary
The subcommittee gave S.288 a favorable report after testimony that the bill would give local governments clear authority to adopt voluntary transferable development-rights (TDR) ordinances, a market-based tool supporters say can protect farmland and limit sprawl.
The Senate Judiciary subcommittee voted to give S.288 a favorable report after proponents said the measure would give local governments clear legal authority to approve voluntary transferable development-rights programs.
Advocates told the panel that S.288 would let local governments, by ordinance, allow owners of a "sending" parcel to transfer development rights to a separate "receiving" parcel, and ensure those transferred rights run with the land. "In effect, it'll work like a conservation easement on that land in perpetuity," said Zach Bier, land, water and ocean project manager for Conservation Voters of South Carolina, who testified in support of the bill.
Supporters said the bill is permissive rather than mandatory: it provides legal backing and guardrails for municipalities and counties that choose to adopt TDR programs, but does not require any locality to do so. Bier told the committee these programs can be a market-based complement to government-funded land protection, enabling property owners to realize value without selling land to developers. He highlighted examples in South Carolina and other states, noting Greenville, Beaufort County and others have ordinances or historical programs related to transfers of development rights.
Committee members asked about permanence and valuation when rights are transferred. The chair and other members confirmed with staff that, once transferred and recorded under a local ordinance, the development rights are conveyed with the property and no longer available to the sending parcel; subsequent buyers of the sending parcel take title subject to that restriction. Bier acknowledged that TDR programs can be complex and that local governments and municipal associations had been neutral on the permissive approach while they work through implementation details.
The subcommittee moved and approved a favorable report by voice vote; the Chair said S.288 will be reported to the full Judiciary Committee for further consideration.
The panel did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript; the committee used voice votes to advance the measure.
