Chesapeake staff unveil proposed transferable development rights program to steer growth and preserve farmland

Planning staff and a consultant on March 11 outlined a proposed Transferable Development Rights program designed to preserve agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands while directing new housing and higher density to designated receiving areas such as Greenbrier.

The presentation, led by planning staff and consultant Dr. Tom Daniels, explained that a TDR gives a landowner in a rural “sending area” the right to sell development capacity to a developer who can then build at higher density in a receiving area. "A transferable development right is a right that is created by local government and is given to landowners in an area where the local government would like to see the land preserved," Dr. Daniels told the Planning Commission.

Staff proposed minimum eligibility and allocation rules intended to balance supply and demand. Under the draft approach, parcels would generally need to be at least 50 acres to qualify as a sending site; each subdividable lot would generate up to three TDRs plus additional TDRs at a rate of one TDR per three acres, staff said. Using that method, staff estimated nearly 200 eligible parcels totaling about 26,000 acres could produce close to 12,000 TDRs in the rural overlay.

The commission heard that TDRs are voluntary for both landowners and developers and that prices would be set by buyers and sellers in negotiations. Staff emphasized that when a landowner severs TDRs from a property, a perpetual conservation easement would be recorded on the sending parcel. "When the TDRs are severed there's a deed of TDRs severance and that's when the conservation easement goes on the property," the consultant said.

Receiving areas would be established through overlay districts and public hearings. Staff identified the Greenbrier transformation areas as initial receiving areas and said other areas (Deep Creek, Western Branch) could be considered after additional plan work and council action. To address infrastructure needs for by‑right increases in density, staff said the city is pursuing statutory authority and legislative changes to allow development agreements that secure dedications, cash contributions or public improvements.

Commissioners asked whether council could later amend sending areas, whether smaller parcels could aggregate to meet the 50‑acre threshold and whether TDR transactions and prices would be publicly accessible. Staff said sending areas could be changed by council, contiguous parcels could assemble to qualify, and negotiated sale details are typically private but the city could maintain a public clearinghouse of available TDRs.

Next steps identified by staff were adoption of an initiating resolution, drafting a TDR ordinance and overlay district, amending the comprehensive plan to map sending and receiving areas, finalizing ordinance text and beginning the public hearing process.

The presentation did not include a formal vote; staff asked commissioners to consider an initiating resolution to begin ordinance work in coming months.