HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - TDR IZ Committee - 02/11/2019SOUTH BURLINGTON TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 11, 2019
The Transfer of Development Rights Commi ee held a regular mee ng on Monday, February 11, 2019, at City Hall, 575
Dorset Street, beginning at 7:14 pm.
Members Present: Tim Barri , Chair, Andrew Chalnick, Tom Bailey, Clerk, and Michael Mi ag
Members Absent: Michael Albertson, Jacob West
Staff and Guests: Monica Ostby, Kevin Dorn, City Manager (for the first five minutes of the mee ng) and Kelly Lord.
(1) Directions on emergency evacuation procedures from conference room;
Directions were provided
(2) Agenda: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items;
Tim men oned that Paul Conner had posted an agenda on the City website. It was found to be general in nature and
suggested the Commi ee con nue the discussion of the use of TDRs.
A er a discussion, Tom moved, and Andrew seconded, to appoint Mike as Chair of the Commi ee. The mo on was
unanimously approved.
Tom moved and Andrew seconded approval of the Minutes of the January 30th meeting. The motion to approve the
Minutes was unanimously approved.
(3) Open to the public for items not related to the agenda;
No comments
(4) Continued discussion of use and applicability of Transferable Development Rights;
Then Mike asked: What the goals are of the Commi ee’s work and what are the next steps? Tim responded that the
Commi ee’s role was to understand how TDRs func on, to make a report to the City Council and the Planning
Commission and to make recommenda ons. Mike cri cized the language of the current TDR regula on. Monica
reiterated a recommenda on from the Commi ee’s last mee ng that a “clearing house” should be created for owners
(sellers) and poten al buyers of TDRs to facilitate the TDR exchange market. She also suggested that (consistent with a
recommenda on by Paul Conner at the end of the Commi ee’s last mee ng) the Commi ee develop three different
poten al recommenda ons and explore each:a. Improve the TDR market by expanding receiving area mechanisms so that more TDR sales could occurthereby improving residen al density.
b. Develop a fund to buyout the outstanding TDRs.
c. Terminate the TDRs and rezone the TDR sending areas with low density rural zoning and the receiving areaswith high density residen al zoning.
Andrew stated that because development in the sending NRP areas is already restricted, the TDRs may not serve a
conserva on func on. He ques oned whether areas where TDRs have been sold could be subsequently rezoned to allow
for development. He then expanded on a memo that he had circulated to members before the mee ng by summarizing
research he had done in other states where TDR models have been implemented.
He said that in some places land owners are encouraged to sell the development rights to their property voluntarily to
limit further development (the encouragement model). In other areas municipali es have established a mi ga on model
by downzoning property to severely restrict development and then as “quid pro quo” providing TDRs to the property
owner whose development rights have already been curtailed. South Burlington has adopted the mi ga on model.
Tim posited that TDRs are the “bad boys” of development in the SEQ because they allow for (encourage) higher density
than zoning provides, much to the objec on of the neighbors. He opined that TDRs have a nega ve effect because they
encourage higher density where it shouldn’t exist. He cited Spear Meadows and Dorset Meadows as examples where the
proposed higher density developments were ed up in li ga on by opponents, neighbors, who feel that that density
(which TDRs provided) should not be allowed. He acknowledged that higher density is not all bad per se and is certainly
good for land owners. He advocates that TDRs should be used somewhere else outside of the SEQ. Also, he does not
advocate, nor feel an obliga on, to make the holders of TDRs “whole”.
Andrew expressed his personal concerns about global warming and environmental effects detailing his own history in
working to combat it. He suggested that these issues should be aligned with the work of the Commi ee in dealing with
TDRs.
The Commi ee revisited the issue of whether the severing of development rights, as set forth in the SB TDRs,
permanently conserves the property from which it is severed. It was decided by consensus to refer that ques on to
Amanda Lafferty, Asst. City A orney, for an opinion. Monica sent Amanda an email to that effect during the mee ng.
Tom ques oned whether the resistance to development by SEQ residents is strictly a NIMBY issue. Other members
responded that residents are passionate about not wan ng to see the City’s open spaces destroyed and the importance
of preserving them. Mike noted that the adop on of Interim Zoning was in response to this passion.
Kelly stated that the City has spoken through the Comprehensive Plan and that LDRs do not align with the Comprehensive
Plan.
With me running short Mike assigned research roles to the members to explore proposals to see if they would be
workable and how they would be implemented. The proposals and tasks were as follows:
a. Mike agreed to work on exploring ways to make the TDRs markets more viable while achieving the overallobjec ves.
b. Tom agreed to explore how TDRs could be terminated with subs tute zoning designed to achieve the sameobjec ves and be fair to TDR holders.
c. Andrew agreed to explore how TDRs could be effec ve in achieving the value of conserving open space.
d. Tim agreed to work on developing a fact sheet that explains the current status of TDRs in a way that will beunderstandable to the public.
Mike indicated he would follow up on the status of a representa ve from the Economic Development Commi ee.
(5) Adjourn
The next mee ng of the Commi ee is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 20th at the South Burlington Police
Sta on, 19 Gregory Drive.
Tom moved and Tim seconded that the mee ng adjourn. With unanimous approval the mee ng adjourned at 9:05 PM.
Tom Bailey, Clerk
Mee ng minutes approved on April 4, 2019