Resources

Miistakis Reports
Transfer of Development Credits in Alberta: A Feasibility Review
Transfer of Development Credits (TDCs) in Alberta: An Information Session and Application Workshop
Government of Alberta
Land Use Alberta (Land Use Secretariat)
- Home page of the Land Use Secretariat, the approval body of TDC programs
Conservation and Stewardship Tools
- Link to Government of Alberta’s summary information on Transfer of Development Credits and Conservation Easements
Provincial Historic Resources designation
- Overview of historical resources designations, one of the allowable deed restrictions in a TDC program
- The Act which enables TDCs (Secs. 48-50) and conservation easements (Secs. 28-35)
- The Act enabling historical resources designations
- The Act which otherwise governs municipal powers
Books
The TDR Handbook: Designing and Implementing Transfer of Development Rights Programs
By Arthur C. Nelson, Rick Pruetz, and Doug Woodruff; Island Press / American Bar Association, 2012 [Order it here]
- The definitive TDR (TDC) resource, includes how-to and extensive case studies; updates Pruetz’s previous seminal books Beyond Takings and Givings and Saved By Development
Transfer of Development Rights: A Flexible Option for Redirecting Growth in Pennsylvania
By Wesley Horner, Kate Brown Garrett, John D. Snook, and John E. Theilacker; Brandywine Conservancy Environmental Management Ctr., 2003
- Fabulous and clearly written how-to guide, with particularly helpful methods for working with the developer community to generate credit transfer ratios
Lasting Value: Open Space Planning and Preservation Successes
By Rick Pruetz; APA Planners Press, 2012
- Stories of success using planning mechanisms to conserver valued landscapes
Beyond Takings and Givings: Saving Natural Areas, Farmland and Historic Landmarks with Transfer of Development Rights and Density Transfer Charges.
By Rick Pruetz, Arje Press, 2003.
- Dated, but still useful and inspirational explanation of how TDR (TDC) programs work, and how they have been applied in approximately 200 cases
Papers and Reports
Is Your Community TDR-Ready?
By Rick Pruetz & Noah Standridge; Presentation to the American Planning Association National Conference, 2009
Open Spaces and People Places: Transfer of Development Credits
Canada West Foundation, ‘Yard Work’ Series, 2006
Planners’ experiences in managing growth using transferable development rights (TDR) in the United States.
By Michael D. Kaplowitz, Patricia Machemer, and Rick Pruetz; Land Use Policy 25, 2008
The Potential for Municipal Transfer of Development Credits Programs in Canada
By Arlene Kwasniak; Journal of Environmental Law and Practice, 2005
TDR-Less TDR Revisited: Transfer of Development Rights Innovations and Gunnison County’s Residential Density Transfer Program
By Mike Pelletier, Rick Pruetz, and Christopher Duerksen
Transfer of Development Rights Turns 40
By Rick Pruetz, and Erica Pruetz; Planning and Environmental Law, June 2007
http://smartpreservation.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/TDR_Commentary.pdf
Using Markets for Land Preservation: Results of a TDR Program
By Virginia Mcconnell, Elizabeth Kopits, and Margaret Walls; Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 49, 2006
What Makes TDRs Work: Success Factors from Research and Practice
By Rick Pruetz and Noah Standridge; Journal of the American Planning Association, 2009
What's in it for me? Exploring Natural Capital Incentives [see p.20]
By Karen Wilke; Canada West Foundation, 2005
Web Resources
- The primary web site of the United States’ TDR guru, Rick Pruetz
TDR Updates – Smart Preservation.net
- Updates on the TDR programs featured as cases in Rick Pruetz’s books
Conservation Easements in Alberta
- Listing of all the conservation easement programs in Alberta, as well as creative options for using them
Alberta Conservation Easement Registry
- Registry of conservation easements in Alberta maintained by the Land Stewardship Centre
Presentations
The Why, What, How and Who’s of TDCs
How the Value of TDC Credits is Determined
Videos
What is a TDC Program?
The Why, What, How and Who's of TDCs
How the Value of TDC Credits is Determined
Tools
Factors of Success for Albert TDC Programs
- A handout version of this web site's ‘Factors of Success’ section
- TDC programs viewed from the perspective of a credit, from their creation to their ultimate use and retirement
Considerations in Creating a TDC Credit System
- A handout with a series of practical considerations in creating a TDC credit system
What Should a TDC Bylaw Include?
- A 'best practices' primer outlining what an effective TDC Bylaw should include to satisfy the Alberta Land Stewardship Act and best practices.
Approval and Best Practices Checklist
- A quick-glance TDC program checklist to ensure all the requirements under the Alberta Land Stewardship Act and best practices considerations have been addressed.
- A sample of how a simple TDC overlay could be drafted for inclusion in a municipal Land Use Bylaw
- The precise language from the Alberta Land Stewardship Act regarding TDCs, set side-by-side with a layman’s explanation [not a definitive legal resource]
Support Organizations and Consultants
- NGO with TDC knowledge, conservation easement knowledge
- NGO with conservation easement knowledge
- NGO with Conservation Easement Registry
- Planning consultant with practical experience with TDCs in Alberta
Frank Lizczak, Matrix Planning
- Planning consultant with practical experience with TDCs in Alberta
American Examples
Summary of Four American Programs (Larimer, Boulder, Calvert and Montgomery)
American Farmland Trust Transfer of Development Rights Fact Sheet, 2008
Distributed by the Farmland Information Centre
New Jersey Pinelands Development Credits Program Fact Sheet
Alberta Efforts
- The M.D of Bighorn was the first municipality, and still the only one, to implement a TDC program (initially called a Transfer of Subdivision Density program)
- The Beaver Hills Initiative has been exploring a multi-jurisdictional TDC program for the Cooking Lake Moraine area of central Alberta
- The Feasibility of Transfer of Development Credits for Conservation in the Beaver Hills Initiative Area
- The M.D of Foothills has been working to lay the groundwork in their MDP and Growth Management Strategy for TDCs to potentially be used in their community
- Cypress County was the first municipality in Alberta to explore a full TDC program for the Cypress Hills Fringe Area ASP; it was not adopted
Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC)
- The AAMDC passed a resolution at their 2006 Fall Convention to lobby the provincial government in support of TDCs
Oldman River Regional Services Commission (ORRSC)
- ORRSC report on the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan concluded TDCs can make a significant contribution to preserving valued areas if designed and managed effectively (p.40)