City hears feasibility study for TDR pilot, consultants flag North Creek as best receiving area

EcoNorthwest consultants outlined a feasibility study for a transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) pilot under Washington’s Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program (LCLIP), telling the Planning Commission that North Creek is the most promising receiving area for placing residential credits.

“Think of it as basically a housing unit that could get built on our working lands and move those development rights into our urban places,” Morgan Shook of EcoNorthwest said, framing TDR as a mechanism to preserve farms and forests while concentrating growth. Consultants said Bothell has a state allocation of 365 credits and the city may choose to accept between 20% and 100% of those credits; revenue sharing with counties begins only after 25% of accepted credits are placed.

The team modeled three growth scenarios. In a low-growth outlook they estimated about $2.8 million in new county funds could flow to the city; a medium-growth case produced roughly $3.27 million in county funds and about $25 million total (city plus county) available for infrastructure programming; a high-growth case could yield about $10 million in county funds and roughly $47 million total over the program period, the consultants said. “These scenarios help benchmark how robust revenues could be depending on program uptake,” Shook said.

Staff and commissioners asked for follow-up materials showing illustrative parcel-level examples and how specific prototypes translate to credits; consultants said they will return with additional maps and prototype sizing as the study continues. The commission did not take action; consultants said next steps include developing a detailed implementation scope and coordinating with county partners and the council.