Montgomery County, PA

Meet Our Director

Kenneth B. Hughes was promoted to director in January 1996. Ken has risen through the ranks at the planning commission. Having worked previously in Rhode Island, he started in 1971 as a community planner. His various promotions at the commission-senior planner/chief of site planning and design, principal planner/chief of countywide and environmental planning, associate director, and assistant director-have given him an expertise in planning and management. Over his 25 years, Ken has gained an excellent knowledge of the people, environment, and planning issues in Montgomery County.
In addition to his planning experience, Ken has a master's degree in community planning and area development from the University of Rhode Island and a B.S. degree in landscape architecture and city planning from the University of Massachusetts. Ken's professional affiliations include the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), American Planning Association (APA), and Pennsylvania Planning Association (PPA). He also is actively involved in numerous regional and community organizations. Ken resides in Upper Providence Township with his wife and two children.

What is TDR?

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) is a zoning technique that allows the transfer of development from one part of a community to another part to preserve open land.

Is Sprawl Consuming Your Landscape?

Open space disappearing! Development sprawling across the landscape! Farmland going the way of the horse and buggy! Costs of sewer construction and road repairs skyrocketing! Lack of community and sense of place! These are the types of problems many municipalities in Montgomery County face today. Many of them ask, What can we do about it? Local communities' hands seem to be tied by the legal system and by large landowners' expectations for the selling price of their land. However, there is one zoning technique, transfer of development rights (TDR), which can address many of these problems.
A TDR program simply takes development that would normally occur in rural areas and transfers it to other parts of a municipality where some growth is acceptable. This transfer is regulated by a zoning ordinance written by the municipality. The actual transfer is done by developers who buy development rights from landowners in rural areas. After these rural landowners sell their development rights, they must deed restrict their land against any future development. This land stays open forever. In return for buying development rights and preserving land, developers in a growth area are allowed to build at a higher density or on a smaller lot than normally allowed, based on zoning standards set by the municipality.
Although the TDR concept has been around for more than 20 years, until recently it had not been used extensively in this area, except for a well-known program in the New Jersey Pinelands. This trend has changed. In response to continued sprawling development, many communities in the region have enacted TDR or updated old TDR standards. In Chester County, East Nantmeal and London Grove Townships have created programs. The Chester County Planning Commission has made TDR a cornerstone of its county planning efforts. In Berks County, Washington Township recently enacted a TDR program. In Lancaster County, Manheim Township created a program and has seen a few transactions take place, with farmland preserved forever. In Bucks County, Buckingham Township and a number of other communities have updated or are planning to update their TDR programs.
In Montgomery County, a few communities are currently considering TDR for a variety of reasons, including:
· They want to preserve farmland and other open land, and TDR is one of the best ways to do this.
· They are planning to add more high-density or medium-density zoning for fair share purposes. Instead of just rezoning land to a higher density and giving the landowner a windfall, municipalities can accomplish the same thing by having the landowner buy development rights for the higher density. This approach not only allows a municipality to meet its fair share needs but also permanently preserves open land elsewhere in the community.
· They need to increase density in an area to support public sewers or other services. Once again, instead of just rezoning land to a higher density and creating a windfall, municipalities can have landowners purchase extra development rights for this higher density. Open land is then preserved elsewhere in the community.
· They want to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of sprawl, like high infrastructure costs, traffic congestion, and lack of community identity.
· They want to manage the inevitable new growth in a positive way that accommodates development but is fair to all property owners and minimizes potential costly litigation.
Overall, TDR is an excellent way to preserve open space and limit sprawl. It is fair, legal, and increasingly popular. Contrary to what you may have heard, it is not very difficult to create or administer. The county planning commission would be glad to visit your municipality to help determine if TDR is appropriate for your community. We also are available to give a presentation on the TDR concept. For information, call Brian O'Leary at (610) 278-3728.

Additional Resources

Planning for Transfer of Development Rights: A Handbook for New Jersey Municipalities by Burlington County.
Transferable Development Rights Programs, Planning Advisory Service Report number 401, by Richard Roddewig and Cheryl Inghram.
Save Your Rural Landscape by Using TDRs by the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
Guidebook for Creating a Municipal TDR Program by the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

We've Got It!

Need demographic information? We've got a complete analysis of the 1990 Census Reports. Each report looks at national, state, regional, county, and municipal trends. The entire census packet of 15 individual reports is $50. Each individual report is $6. Local governments, nonprofit organizations, and students get a 50 percent discount. Updated information on some selected items is also available. Call Ann Lint at (610) 278-3723 for ordering information. To get demographic information over the phone, call Sarah Flaks (610) 278-3740, Matthew Greene (610) 278-4917, or Steven Nelson (610) 278-3730.

1990 Census Reports:

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