Brandywine Conservancy Publishes Manual
on Transfer of Development Rights
(January 2004, #002)

Transfer of Development Rights, or TDR, as a planning and resource protection tool, has existed for several decades, however it is perhaps more misunderstood by planners, developers, attorneys, public officials and conservationists than any other innovative method. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable resource lands are being destroyed by sprawling suburbanization while municipalities rely on the comfort of more conventional, yet less flexible, planning tools. In an effort to eliminate confusion and promote use of TDR, the Brandywine Conservancy has published a comprehensive manual on the subject for serious use by local governments.

Titled Transfer of Development Rights: A Flexible Option for Redirecting Growth in Pennsylvania, the 84-page manual features text and illustrations that provide a basic understanding of what TDR is and how to effectively use it in Pennsylvania communities. Funded by a generous grant from the William Penn Foundation, the manual is the result of extensive research, augmented by advice from a special focus group of realtors, developers, attorneys and financiers.

TDR can be used to permanently protect natural or cultural resource lands (sending zones) by enabling landowners to sever and sell their development rights on the open market. In turn, developers purchasing these rights can increase the development potential- and economic value- of other lands (receiving zones). TDR success stories do exist in Pennsylvania and are presented throughout the manual to emphasize different aspects for consideration when developing a TDR program.

Intended for members of municipal planning commissions, governing bodies and other municipal officials, the manual explains the legal framework for using TDR in Pennsylvania and defines a series of seven steps toward creation of a successful TDR program. To aid users of the manual, a sample TDR ordinance, a model TDR restrictive covenant and a sample TDR deed are included in the appendices.

The Brandywine Conservancy recognizes the potential of TDR as a powerful tool for protecting prime farmland and other resource lands while accommodating reasonable growth. TDR can complement other growth management tools and private land conservation efforts.
†As case studies demonstrate, its success needs not be limited to situations where it may be used as a stand-alone tool. The Conservancy so strongly believes that TDR should be an integral part of a municipality's growth management and resource protection strategies that it has dedicated years of research and analyzed many case studies to produce this instructional manual.

Transfer of Development Rights: A Flexible Option for Redirecting Growth in Pennsylvania may be purchased for $22 online at www.brandywinemuseumshop.org or by calling 610-388-8326.

Since 1967, the Brandywine Conservancy's Environmental Management Center has conserved natural and cultural resources of the Brandywine River watershed and other selected areas with a primary emphasis on conservation of water quantity and quality. To date, the Conservancy's efforts have resulted in the permanent protection of 38,177 acres in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware. The Conservancy's professional planners and natural resource managers provide conservation solutions to landowners, farmers, municipalities and developers. For more information about the Conservancy's programs and services, visit www.brandywineconservancy.org or call 610-388-2700.

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