Transferable Development Rights Programs: 'Post-Zoning'?
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0679-2948
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Brooklyn Law Review
Abstract
This Essay, written for the David G. Trager Public Policy Symposium at Brooklyn Law School, examines the changing role of transferable development rights (TDRs) in New York City. TDR programs allow property owners to sell unused development capacity at their property and transfer it to another site, where it is typically used to increase the permitted size of a development. New York City’s original TDR programs served two central purposes. First, in the form of Zoning Lot Mergers, they operated as a form of density zoning, allowing property owners to shift development capacity within a defined area. Second, they served to offset the burdens imposed by restrictions on development, particularly landmark preservation regulations. In recent years, TDRs have been used in increasingly sophisticated ways. In reviewing these newer TDR programs, we identify three common attributes: an increased focus on directing the location and density at sites that receive development rights; the use of TDRs as an integral component of more comprehensive rezoning initiatives; and the creation of regulatory incentives that strengthen the market for TDRs. We conclude that TDRs in New York can no longer be understood just as a creative mechanism to soften the effect of rigid zoning restrictions, but should be recognized as well as a tool land use decision makers can use in place of, or in tandem with, upzonings, bonuses, and other devices for increasing density.
First Page
435
Last Page
465
Publication Date
2013
Recommended Citation
Vicki Been & John Infranca, Transferable Development Rights Programs: 'Post-Zoning'?, 78 Brooklyn Law Review 435 (2013).
Creative Commons License
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