PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management announces the release of Village Guidance: Tools and Techniques for Rhode Island Communities and the Rhode Island Transfer of Development Rights Manual.
To date, one-fifth of Rhode Island's land area has been protected for future generations to enjoy. Approximately three-fifths of our State is undeveloped and unprotected. Many of our important farms, drinking water supplies and habitats are on lands that can be developed, placing critical resources at risk. While in the past unplanned growth has negatively impacted many of our natural areas, the goals of growing our economy and protecting our environment are not mutually exclusive. DEM has developed many tools such as Conservation Development, and Community Guidance to Maintain Working Farms and Forests to help communities plan for growth while avoiding and reducing negative impacts to natural resources and community character. Village Guidance: Tools and Techniques for Rhode Island Communities and the companion Rhode Island Transfer of Development Rights Manual are two additional resources to assist communities.
Development of villages leads to a "win-win" scenario. Villages help communities accommodate the growth needed to prosper without degrading quality of life or natural resources. Village development is very beneficial to the local tax base and helps to protect our environment by:
• guiding growth away from our farms, forests and habitat; • protecting water quality by reducing impervious cover; • reducing greenhouse gas emissions by encouraging walking, biking and mass transportation; and • decreasing the land needed to support new housing and businesses.
Transfer of development rights (TDR) is an innovative way to direct growth away from lands that communities want to preserve to locations well suited to support development. TDR is a voluntary market-based land use tool that allows a property owner in a "preservation area" to sell their property's development rights in exchange for a permanent conservation easement that allows the land to stay undeveloped in perpetuity. In turn, a property owner in a "growth area" can buy those rights to build at densities higher than allowed under the current zoning.
Developers are willing to purchase development rights in preservation areas that are desirable to preserve to get bonus density where the community wants more growth. Therefore, new development can help pay for the preservation of meaningful open space. While there are over 200 successful TDR programs across the country, TDR historically has not been successful in New England. The new DEM TDR guidance makes important changes to customize the approach to enable it to work effectively in Rhode Island. Moreover, there are market trends and fiscal benefits to communities that support the success of TDR in Rhode Island.
Through villages and the use of transfer of development rights, local officials and developers can work together to guide and promote growth where it is most suitable. This guidance was supported by the Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program with funding provided by the US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
Both documents are available online on DEM's website at dem.ri.gov at the following links: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bpoladm/suswshed/pdfs/vilgyde.pdf http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bpoladm/suswshed/pdfs/devright.pdf
For additional information contact Scott Millar, administrator, sustainable watersheds at 222-4700 ext. 4419.