(Profiled 3-22-21)
Puget Sound Region, Washington, includes four counties surrounding Seattle in the northern part of the state: King, Pierce, Kitsap, and Snohomish. Each of these counties has its own individual TDR program with the King County program being the oldest of the four and preserving over 144,500 acres as of March 2021, making it the most successful TDR program in the nation in terms of the amount of land preserved.
The regional program was initiated by key legislators and Forterra, (formerly the Cascade Land Conservancy), a regional conservancy working in ten western counties in the State of Washington. In 2007, the legislature passed a measure to study the feasibility of a regional TDR market. In 2008, the Washington Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) completed a report recommending that the state proceeds with a TDR program for the Central Puget Sound region within specified parameters. In May 2009, Governor Chris Gregoire signed legislation that established this program.
The program is designed to encourage the voluntary transfer of development rights from rural, forested, and agricultural lands under county jurisdiction to receiving sites in cities and towns throughout the four-county region. Individual cities/towns and counties may choose to use a preexisting code section to establish inter-jurisdictional TDR programs and enter into separate interlocal agreements as they have in the past. Alternatively, communities may choose to use the components for regional agreements developed by CTED and codified in WAC 365-198, which became effective in 2010.
In addition to the benefits generated by all TDR programs, participation in the Puget Sound program allows cities with populations of at least 22,500 in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties to use the Landscape Conservation and Local Infrastructure Program (LCLIP), adopted in 2011. LCLIP allows eligible cities that meet regional TDR standards to fund infrastructure in qualified receiving areas that accommodate inter-jurisdictional transfers from counties in the region using tax increment financing, a tool not otherwise available in the State of Washington.
These three counties calculated the number of TDRs on agricultural and forest land of long-term commercial significance. The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) allocated these TDRs to cities eligible to receive TDRs based on growth projections and other criteria. To qualify for LCLIP, a participating city must agree to accept at least 20 percent of its TDR allocation, adopt an infrastructure plan for the receiving area capable of accommodating these TDRs and establish at least one infrastructure project area. Cities are able to receive a greater proportion of tax increment revenues by agreeing to accept more than 20 percent of the allocation.
King County has adopted TDR interlocal agreements with the cities of Seattle, Issaquah, Bellevue, Normandy Park, and Sammamish. Pierce County has adopted a TDR interlocal agreement with the City of Tacoma. Snohomish County has adopted a TDR interlocal agreement with the City of Mountlake Terrace.
The 2013 TDR Agreement between King County and Seattle won a Lifetime of GMA Award in 2015. This agreement establishes a process in which development in Seattle’s downtown and South Lake Union district can buy up to 800 urban density credits worth $18 million representing the preservation of 2,000 acres of farmland and 23,000 acres of forestland under King County jurisdiction. In return for Seattle’s acceptance of these credits, King County will partner in the funding of infrastructure improvements within the city’s receiving areas. For up to 25 years, the county will share 17.4 percent of the new property tax revenues generated in these two receiving areas. This shared tax revenue will help pay for roughly $17 million in Green Street improvements including transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. King County also estimates that the redirection of 800 rural homes to Seattle’s South Lake Union district will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 173,000 metric tons as well as reduce the need in rural King County to build and maintain roads, sewers, and water mains as well as provide emergency and other public services (King County 2013).
Reference
King County. 2013. County Executive proposes strengthening “farm-to-city” connection with Seattle. News Release dated July 8, 2013. Accessed 3-21-21 at County Executive proposes strengthening “farm-to-city connection” with Seattle – King County.