TDR Program Performance in Florida

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Transfer of development rights (TDR) programs can help manage growth through the exchange of development rights from sending areas targeted for protection to receiving areas targeted for development. We ask 1) what TDR approaches are used in Florida, and 2) which approaches effectively help communities manage growth? We identify three distinct TDR approaches, corresponding to different stages in Florida's growth management policies. Conventional TDR programs reflect Florida's early growth management policies by facilitating rural-to-urban transfers; they have had limited impact. Hybrid TDR programs reflect a smart growth orientation; they have been most successful at retiring vested development rights in areas that cannot support growth. Rural TDR programs reflect a recent focus on economic development; they have saved many acres, but too often at the expense of increased rural sprawl. Some successful programs owe their outcomes largely to public land purchases and not to private market exchanges. We conclude that most Florida TDR programs do little to manage growth, and that acres conserved is an inadequate and often misleading measure of program success. Takeaway for practice: To manage urban growth, planners must ensure that TDR programs operate in alignment with local comprehensive plans. Planners must assess the performance of TDR programs with measures other than acres preserved and adopt complementary policies that facilitate density to make TDR programs effective.