Experts brief council on transfer of development rights, urging careful design and market calibration

Skip Swenson and Morgan Shook opened a March 18 Clark County council work session with a primer on transfer of development rights (TDRs), telling council members that TDRs are a voluntary, market‑based tool to move development potential from rural sending sites to higher‑capacity receiving sites.

Swenson, who said he has worked on TDR policy and program design for two decades, told the council, “TDR is a tool from moving the potential development on one property to another, and creating the mechanisms and the markets that allow us to do that.” He emphasized that the mechanics — allocation rates, exchange rates and incentives — determine whether a program succeeds or fails.

Morgan Shook, director at Echo Northwest, described common program elements and the need to match incentives with market realities. He said valuations for sending‑site rights are typically derived through appraisal work “similar to a conservation easement,” looking at highest‑and‑best use, construction costs, and comparables, and that exchange rates must be set so buying credits is economically attractive for developers.

Why it matters: The consultants told councilors that without developer demand in receiving areas there will be no effective market for credits. Shook said market studies, outreach to developers and project‑level appraisals are best practice in calibrating a price and designing exchange rates so that buying credits meaningfully improves a project’s profitability.

Program timeline and administration: Presenters recommended a realistic design timeline — commonly 1–2+ years — and said program administrative needs vary by scale. Swenson listed essential functions: certification and recording of rights, tracking and extinguishment, easement management, assessor coordination and a public interface for buyers and sellers. He noted that programs sometimes recover administrative costs through participant fees, and that nonprofit partners or a public bank can play major roles in building liquidity.

Council questions focused on how TDRs can be tailored to support affordable housing or landmark preservation, minimum parcel considerations, and how developers and sellers would discover each other. Swenson and Shook said TDRs have been used to support affordable housing through air‑rights mechanisms and that careful design — often informed by market studies and outreach to developers — is essential to avoid price distortions and ensure uptake.

What happens next: The consultants encouraged the county to adopt a clear policy framework and to invest in market analysis and stakeholder outreach before setting exchange rates in code. The council recessed to move to later agenda items and later returned to consider interlocal proposals and next steps tied to the comprehensive‑plan update.