The purpose and intent of this article is to:

(1)

Guide private land development by encouraging orderly growth in the town and by preserving, protecting, and conserving the town's natural and manmade resources; and

(2)

Encourage development in areas of the town where an adequate infrastructure can be reasonably provided while conserving those areas of environmental sensitivity which provide the natural renewable resources which are vital to the vitality and well-being of the town; and

(3)

Compensating private landowners in exchange for their timely and orderly donation of lands needed by the town for beneficial and aesthetic public purposes, such as conservation, preservation, open space, parks, outdoor recreation uses or other public purposes.

(Code 1992, § 27-991; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.1, 3-1-1988)

The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

Benefitted parcels means parcels of land which will be entitled to receive the benefit of the transferred development rights from the controlled parcel.

Buildable area means the net area of a benefitted parcel remaining after deducting any nonbuildable area contained therein.

Conservation purposes means the conservation of land or water areas, the preservation of buildings or sites of historical or cultural significance and the preserving of land or water areas dominantly in their natural scenic, open or wooded condition.

Controlled parcels means parcels of land from which the development rights shall be identified, severed and detached for the purposes of transfer to benefitted parcels.

Development right means the right of the owner of the fee interest in the land to change the use of the land.

Nonbuildable areas means land or water areas within the gross area of a benefitted parcel which are not available to the owner for the placement, location or construction of buildings or structures. This may be due either to the physical inability of the surface area to support such construction or to the operation and effect of conservation or preservation restrictions imposed on the area prohibiting or limiting construction thereon.

Outdoor recreational or park purposes means and includes, but is not necessarily limited to, boating, golfing, camping, swimming, horseback riding and archaeological, scenic or scientific sites and applies only to land which is open to the general public.

Preservation purpose means the protection and continuation of unique ecological characteristics, rare or limited combinations of geological formations or features of a rare or limited nature constituting habitat suitable for fish, plants, or wildlife, and like uses which would be consistent with conservation, recreation and open space, and coastal protection elements of the town's comprehensive plan.

Public purpose means a benefit gained by the public by way of conservation of land or water areas, preservation of unique ecological characteristics, or the dedication of land areas to the town which serve the conservation, preservation, outdoor recreation or park purposes of the public or which otherwise facilitates the timely and orderly donation of lands needed by the town for beneficial and aesthetic public purposes or other necessary public purposes.

Transfer of development rights means a mechanism which permits the development rights of the controlled parcel to be transferred to one or more benefitted parcels of land for future use.

(Code 1992, § 27-992; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.2, 3-1-1988)

A landowner who desires to take advantage of the benefits available under this article shall make application to the town specifying the controlled parcel, the benefitted parcel and the development rights intended for transfer. Proof of ownership of the land areas involved, legal description or other identification of the parcels and a description of the public benefit to be derived by the town as a result of such transfer shall be stated in sufficient detail for a clear understanding of the proposal. The town may also institute a request to the landowner when it is deemed that the parcel is desirable for a public purpose as identified in this section. The department of public service shall review and evaluate the applicant's proposal, confer and negotiate with the applicant to obtain such revisions to the proposal which conform to the spirit and intent of this article and submit same together with staff recommendations for the consideration and action of the planning and zoning commission and the town council. The final approval of a transfer of development rights shall be in the form of a town ordinance.

(Code 1992, § 27-993; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.3, 3-1-1988)

An ordinance transferring development rights as to specific parcels of real estate shall be specific and identify rights enumerated in such ordinance in the name of the owner of the benefitted parcel forever until the specific application for use thereof is made by such owner to the town and is so granted and approved by the town. Such rights may be transferred by the owner in a conveyance of the benefitted parcels.

(Code 1992, § 27-994; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.4, 3-1-1988)

The application for use of transferred development rights must be made by the owner thereof in writing to the town. The town council shall have the right of approval thereof in respect to the benefitted parcels and such approval thereof in respect to the benefitted parcels and such approval shall not be denied to the applicant, subject however, to the terms, provisions, conditions and restrictions of this article or to special conditions imposed and contained in the ordinance granting specific transfer approval. Further limitations are contained in this article.

(Code 1992, § 27-995; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.5, 3-1-1988)

An application for the transfer of development rights shall be limited exclusively to the benefitted parcels as specified therein, and may include all or part of such rights as they relate to a land development site. A transfer shall not be applied so as to exceed the then current development regulations of the town by more than 25 percent. This may be in the form of an increase in land development maximum allowances which serve as a benefit to the land developer or in the form of a decrease of land development assessments which serve as a burden or assessment on the developer. The exact determination of any such deviation to be applied to the benefitted parcel shall be determined or specified as an integral part of the land development approval process by the town. If the gross area of the benefitted parcel contains portions which are nonbuildable, then for the purpose of determining the 25 percent maximum bonus application to such site, the computation shall be based solely upon the net buildable area.

(Code 1992, § 27-996; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.6, 3-1-1988)

Any transfer of development rights which remain unused by the owner thereof after application to a specific land development request shall continue to be valid and enforceable rights of the owner and applicable to any further or subsequent future application requests without time limitation until so used; provided, however, that such right can only be used or applied to the benefitted parcels as contained in the ordinance granting specific transfer approval.

(Code 1992, § 27-997; Ord. No. 10-88, § 634.7, 3-1-1988)