Mapleton, Utah, population 10,168 (2018), lies immediately southeast of Provo Utah. The Wasatch Mountains and the Uinta National Forest form the eastern boundary of the City. The Mapleton TDR program aims to promote the preservation of agricultural land, rural open space, scenic vistas, sensitive lands, natural hazard areas and places where delivery of public services would be difficult and/or expensive, such as hillsides and mountainsides.

Process

Sending areas are designated in the Mapleton general plan or described in the TDR code section. Once a conservation easement is recorded on a sending site, the site is rezoned TDR-S unless the site has been deeded to the City as open space or parkland in which case the zoning changes to OS-P.

In all sending area zones except the Critical Environment-1 (CE-1), the number of TDRs issued is equal to the site’s base zoning density. In the CE-1 zone, which applies to hillsides, TDR generation is three times base density if the owner retains fee title or five times base density if the owner transfers title to the City or if the sending site owner is the City of Mapleton. These bonuses cannot be used if any portion of the parcel as it existed as of 1998 was subsequently subdivided or developed. In that regard, 18.76.060C3c states: “It is the intent of this chapter to cause owners of potential sending sites within the CE-1 zone to decide either to develop all of some portion of the potential sending sites, or to receive the incentive bonus by transferring all development rights off the land, but not to allow for both or some degree of both.”

Receiving areas are lots within the A-2, RA-1, PRC, PRD, PD, SDP, and R-2-B zones. The maximum density of the proposed development cannot exceed the maximum density of the site’s general plan designation or double the baseline density of the underlying zoning designation. In deciding whether or not to approve a receiving site development, the city council must consider the compatibility of the proposed development with surrounding development as well as consistency with the general plan and compliance with the development code.

Program Status

Mapleton issued 399 TDRs to sending sites between 1998 and 2010 when the city stopped accepting sending site applications. These TDRs preserved approximately 750 acres. Between 1999 and 2019, the developers of 32 subdivisions used 209 TDRs to increase receiving site density by roughly 400 dwelling units.