Plan serves public good, respects property rights

News Tribune editorial in support of the Transfer of Development Rights ordinance passed by the Pierce County Council.

The Pierce County Council, set to vote today on a transfer-of-development rights proposal, finds itself at a pivotal point in shaping the county’s future quality of life.

The council could decide to continue business as usual, leaving much of the county’s irreplaceable and productive farmlands and forests in jeopardy of development.

The council could simply accept the prospect of wall-to-wall subdivisions and commercial development in what’s left of the county’s best agricultural lands, primarily in the Puyallup and Orting valleys.

But the smarter and more responsible choice is to approve the proposed transfer or purchase of development rights program. It is a well-crafted and fair plan that respects property rights and uses the mechanisms of the marketplace to serve the public good.

The TDR proposal was developed with the help of the Cascade Land Conservancy, a regional nonprofit that promotes collaborative ways of allowing for responsible growth. Transfer or purchase of development rights is just such a tool.

The beauty of a TDR plan is that it is market-driven. No farmer or rural landowner is forced to sell his property, nor is he deprived of the opportunity to realize the “nest egg” value of his property.

The owner of valuable agricultural land can sell or transfer his development rights to a developer. In return, the developer acquires the right to build to a greater density in areas where it makes sense to encourage growth.

The plan has drawn strong support from former Pierce County executive Doug Sutherland, who is now state lands commissioner.

“One of the largest issues facing Washington state is population growth and the conversion pressure that this growth places on our resource lands,” Sutherland notes. “We can address this issue in the marketplace, or we can wait for other interests to call for excessive land-use regulation.”

A TDR program would give the state the option of selling development rights for state-owned forest lands that otherwise would be sold for development. More forest in the so-called “urban interface” areas of Pierce County could be preserved in perpetuity.

Developers worry that the TDR program will drive up the cost of buildable land and thus housing prices as well. They also want the program to be voluntary rather than mandatory.

In fact, lands eligible for transfer of development rights are already zoned for timber or agriculture; they are not included in the county’s present inventory of buildable lands. And the plan will work properly only if developer participation is mandatory. Voluntary approaches elsewhere have been ineffective without large taxpayer subsidies.

Pierce County’s agricultural heritage is important to both city dwellers and farmers alike. The council should protect it by approving the TDR plan.