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<br />Page 2
<br />farmland preservation report
<br />Hot TDR market in
<br />No. 1 Montgomery
<br />Continued from page 1
<br />Carroll County, Md., returns to 4th place, overtak-
<br />ing Sonoma County by 1,704 ages. Carroll lost the
<br />position to Sonoma in 2001, ranking 5th since then.
<br />Montgomery County's TDR program has always
<br />been an anolmaly. Only a handful of TDR programs
<br />nationwide are regularly active, and a countywide
<br />program with designated areas for sending and
<br />receiving development rights is decidedly rare.
<br />The survey also found that some counties in the
<br />preservation business for decades are approaching
<br />what could be called "preservation build- out." That
<br />has already happened in Howard County, Md. where
<br />permissive zoning has put land values as high as
<br />$40,000 per acre. The latest proposal to entice
<br />landowners by offering up to $20,000 per acre didn't
<br />bring in many applicants, and those that did apply
<br />didn't get the high offer. None have yet accepted the
<br />offers they did receive, according to program director
<br />Joy Levy. Howard fell off the Top 12- chart last year.
<br />Montgomery County is beginning to see preserva-
<br />tion build -out too, according to administrator John
<br />Zawitoski, who said parcels are hard to find. TDR is
<br />driving the remaining preservation to be done, he said.
<br />"We've really seen a tremendous increase in
<br />TDRs over the last two years. Values are up, and are
<br />probably the highest. we've ever seen."
<br />Transferrable rights are selling at $25,000 to
<br />farmland preservation report
<br />is published monthly except for August &December by
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<br />900 La Grange Road
<br />Street, Maryland 21154
<br />Telephone: 410 692 -2708 Email: bowerspub@hotmail.com
<br />www.farrnlandpreservationrepprt.com
<br />Deborah Bowers
<br />Editor &Publisher
<br />Tom Daniels
<br />Senior Contributing Editor
<br />Robert J. Heuer
<br />Contributing Editor
<br />Subscription rate of $205 includes index & hotline services. ISSN:
<br />1050 -6373. Copyright ©2004 by Bowers Publishing, Inc. All rights
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<br />material requires permission from the publisher.
<br />July - Aug. 2004
<br />$35,000 each, he said, double the cost just last year.
<br />But cost is not a factor, apparently, when developers
<br />have a place to put the additional housing -
<br />Clarksburg is serving as a receiving area, and it is a
<br />boomtown. Already in 2004, 1,691 rights were
<br />transferred there, almost as many as in all of 2003.
<br />The transfer activity is likely the nation's hottest.
<br />Per -acre values in Montgomery have spurred the
<br />county board to push for a higher cap on purchased
<br />easements. Currently, $4500 is the top dollar paid.
<br />"We suspect that preservation will get more
<br />expensive. It's challenging to get the last few acres,"
<br />Zawitoski said. The county is just 9,000 acres short of
<br />the 70,000 -acre goal it set two decades ago. Finishing
<br />the job is expected to take about six more years.
<br />In 4th - ranking Carroll, the only county to change
<br />places in the ranking this year, county commissioners
<br />passed an ordinance that gives eligibility to parcels
<br />that are too small, or, are not enrolled as ag districts.
<br />"For years we only had one program," said Bill
<br />Powel. Now, in addition to extended eligibility, the
<br />county offers securitized installment purchase agree-
<br />ments (IPAs). Some farms switched from state
<br />offers to the IPAs, Powel said.
<br />"Our commissioners have really stepped up the
<br />bond authorization to get acres before they are lost or
<br />out of sight," cost -wise, Powel said
<br />Other movement in the ranking is the pace of
<br />preservation, most notably by Berks County, Pa.,
<br />which is making quick use of a local bond issue. Last
<br />year the program logged more than 5,000 acres, and
<br />this year maintains that pace. It remains in 7th place,
<br />but with ample funding of close to $10 million and a
<br />`round `em up' attitude, the program could easily
<br />overtake 6th place Baltimore County next year.
<br />In 8th- ranking Harford, applicants are still coming
<br />in, attracted to the installment purchase program with
<br />the hot funding source: a local transfer tax in a
<br />booming housing market, now bringing in $6 million
<br />annually to the program. The tax was first levied in
<br />1993 and the program remains popular.
<br />The top counties continue to benefit from the
<br />federal Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program.
<br />Frederick County's notable funding innovations
<br />include the use of federal transportation "enhance-
<br />ments" funds, which allow for scenic or historic
<br />preservation along highways. Farmland programs in
<br />Maryland benefit from the state's Rural Legacy
<br />Program. Lower Windsor Township in York County
<br />levied a landfill tipping fee to boost local preservation.
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