Up north in Boulder County

Boulder County began its transferable development rights program in 1995. Since its inception, nearly 4,500 acres of land have been preserved as open space. However, the birthplace of much of the state’s revolutionary planning has also gone about things a little differently.

“It’s a little different than the typical TDR programs because we don’t offer developers an enormous bonus density,” says Peter Fogg, Boulder County’s manager of long-range planning.

Prior to 1995, developers had to bring 35 acres to the table for every two units they wished to develop. At that time, regulations changed to allow only one unit per 35 acres. However, if a developer brought an adequate number of transferable development rights, he or she would be allowed three units per 35 acres.

“Our regulations became more restrictive,” says Fogg. “So it was kind of a push-pull situation. Plus, our system is entirely voluntary.”

In Boulder County, TDR negotiations are conducted exclusive of government influence. The developer also selects the site to be preserved and then proposes it to county officials. “We leave a lot of it up to the developer,” says Fogg. “It was clear that if we designated specific sites, it would have done bad things to land values.”

The place where the county does do substantial work is in negotiations with municipalities and making sure growth goes where it is appropriate. “We try to make it attractive to the cities to accept receiving sites near their edges,” says Fogg.

Fogg adds that in spite of widespread skepticism, the program has paid off.

“To some people’s surprise, including mine, it’s worked quite well,” he says. “I didn’t think this would offer developers enough incentive.”

After nearly eight years of the program, Fogg can say that it has been effective but primarily because of tighter regulation. In the case of a purely voluntary, incentive-based system, he says it could be more difficult.

“It’s kind of a tough one because there’s a fine line between offering it as an additional option and tightening down the other bolts and steering developers in that direction,” he says. “You really need to consider offering considerably higher density. I think it’s only realistic that you’re going to have to give a good bonus.”

Where are the dollars?

In 1996, a rancher and biologist crossed party lines and created the Gunnison County Ranchland Conservation Legacy. Their goal was the preservation of agricultural lands and operations that were threatened by development. To do this they created an organization that would acquire funding to buy development rights. To date, the Ranchland Conservation Legacy has acquired 18 ranches totaling 9,490 acres, and rather than using developers for funding, they tapped grant funding, particularly millions of lottery dollars from Great Outdoors Colorado.

However, a decade later, the organization still has a waiting list that is 42 families and 30,000 acres deep and is facing dwindling funding. “We have a huge number of people on our waiting list but not enough funding,” says executive director Lucy High. “The funding agencies are getting pickier all the time.”

As a result, the group has started a broad search for funding mechanisms. One of these roads has led to the Gunnison County Land Preservation Board, which assesses impact fees on developers in order to acquire open space. Much like transferable development rights, the board recently voted to leverage against these fees in order to go into debt to the tune of $1.2 million in part to help the Ranchland Conservation Legacy begin to acquire the ranchland before it becomes sprawl.

Speaking to the positive impact of buying development rights, High says: “This program offers a way for ranchers to stay in business and be compensated for the public benefit they are providing in terms of open space, habitat and quality of life. It’s not a panacea for this nation’s agricultural problems, but I know it’s made the difference for a lot of people in Gunnison County.”

Whether buying development rights will make the difference for property owners in La Plata County and whether a TDR system can even be implemented here remain large unknowns. However, county planners are now committed to answering these questions over the next few months.