Ordinance Amendment 85 -Town of Berry Comp Plan

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transfer from the Tovin of Berry in accordance with'Town Ordinance 500.5. In no event shall new or additional density units or development rights be created beyond the total number available in the Town of Berry based on the "one residential dwelling unit per 35 acres" policy calculated and interpreted as of April 13, 1981." Specifically, staff is concerned with the potential ramifications of the town considering development rights "extinguished" on private property. There is also concern with the town making transferrable development rights available to itself, and the advantage that could give the town over individual property owners who may wish to make their rights available for transfer under the TDR policy. The town's longstanding density policy is the means by which the atviallocates development potential to property. The town policy is relied upon by farmers and otheroperty owners as they make decisions about the long term uses and value of their property�Withregard to conservation easements or other private property transactions, the town density poly provides the foundation for appraisals which establish valuations that inform negotiations between buyer an' deller. There are no definitions provided for various terms a"s`ed in the policy (e.g., non .evocable action; permanently restricted), and there is no procedureta:iled for how the town w�orender a determination of extinguishment or whether such determination would be commun mated to the property owner. It's unclear if the town' rrttends to examicfh;on-revocable actroar if there is any >.. way for a property owner to challenge 'the to" -rd.'s determine j l Conservation easements, while most often 4t"tendedz o a long ter-m-Anstruments of land preservation, are not necessarilyermanen. ".pr "non re gable" and could be renew tiated b the parties in an number of ways. In add rton,W:easements are no uniform, a d�ca �nclud provisions allowing the owner to retain the ability to., rl a availabli evelopm�en"" righte on the p`r`operty. Town role in TDR Programa A It is unclear how the�ual numbe e elapr>menNrileg its' will be "made available" for transfer "from the Town of Berry"' Although the policy reference'". hatsuch transfer from the town of Berry is to be done rn ac rdance with e tpwn s jDR,ordinance,�-there is no implementation detail in the ordinance to indieah. town's role iWit`fe:TDR process, raising additional questions. Does the town ":"^ d to market'ftransferrable development rights that have been "made available" to property owne ho may be in , :rested in creating new lots on their property? If so, how will such negotiations occur wr h 'ut providinetthe town an unfair advantage over individual property owners who may be interested in transferring : eir development rights? � Policy alternatives Although unclear, it appears the intent of this policy may be to "regenerate" development rights from lands that may not be developed as a result of a property owner recording a conservation easement or similar instrument on his/her property. Staff -contacted the town board requesting clarification of the policy and suggesting that the town could use its planning authority to create "new/replacement" development potential or transferrable development rights instead of extinguishing rights on specific properties. In response to that request, Town of Berry Board Chair Varda indicated that the town does not intend to expand the total number of development rights available beyond that established as of April 13, 1981,