Kitsap County Unincorporated
City Zoning Code

Contiguity of Sending Site Lots. If a sending site consists of more than one lot, the lots must be contiguous. For purposes of this chapter, lots separated only by a public street or right-of-way are considered contiguous.

Code Compliance Required. If the sending site is the subject of code enforcement action by the county, the responsible party, upon whom a notice of violation has been served pursuant to Chapter 2.116, must resolve the allegations of violation, which may include performance of any required abatement, restoration, or payment of civil penalties, or dismissal of charges pursuant to legal process, before development rights for the sending site may be certified or transferred by a sending site landowner. This requirement may be waived at the discretion of the director where a proposal is in the public interest; provided, that any outstanding code violations do not materially affect the conservation value of the sending site and the person responsible for code compliance is making a good faith effort to resolve the violations. Waivers granted pursuant to this subsection are solely for the purpose of TDR sending site eligibility and do not constitute a waiver of any county land use regulations or affect ongoing or future code enforcement actions related to the sending site.

Forest Practices Compliance Required. For sending sites on which the entire lot or a portion of the lot has been cleared or graded pursuant to a Class II, III or IV special forest practices permit as defined by RCW 76.09.050 within the six years prior to application for certification or transfer of development rights, the applicant must provide an affidavit of compliance with the reforestation requirements of RCW 76.09.070, WAC 222-34-010 and any additional reforestation conditions of their forest practice permit. Sending sites that are subject to a six-year moratorium on development applications pursuant to RCW 76.09.060 shall not be qualified as TDR sending sites until the moratorium has expired or been lifted.

Land already encumbered by a conservation easement shall not be eligible as a TDR sending site.

Any land below ordinary high water of any fresh or saltwater body shall not be eligible as a TDR sending site.

Development rights allocated to eligible sending sites may be converted to TDR certificates which may be transferred to eligible receiving sites through the TDR transfer process. After completion of the conveyance of a sending site’s development rights, the property shall be maintained in a condition that is consistent with the TDR conservation easement imposed under Section 17.580.100.

The number of legal lots that comprise the sending site; or

The number that is determined by applying the sending site base density dictated by the underlying zoning as established in Sections 17.420.052 through 17.420.058 to the gross area of the sending site.

If the sending site is comprised of one or more undivided tax parcels, the acreage shall be determined by:

If the proposed sending site includes one or more partial lots or involves a short subdivision or boundary line adjustment, then the applicant is required to provide, at the applicant’s cost, a survey that has been prepared and stamped by a surveyor licensed in the state of Washington.

Any portion of the sending site that is already subject to a conservation easement or other recorded encumbrance restricting development on the sending site shall be subtracted from the sending site area before applying the base density calculation under subsection (B) of this section.

Any portion of the sending site used for residential development or reserved for future residential development shall be subtracted before applying the base density calculation under subsection (B) of this section.

For receiving areas defined in subsection (B) of this section, exchange rates are established by resolution of the board of county commissioners.

Required development rights are calculated on a per acre basis. All fractional acreages shall be rounded up to the higher exchange rate.

Exchange rates shall be periodically evaluated and may be modified to ensure they reflect market conditions.

Legal description and parcel numbers of the sending site for which TDR certificates are sought.

The following documents, which shall be used as the basis for determining transferable development rights pursuant to Section 17.580.050:

A title report issued no longer than thirty days prior to the date of application confirming that the ownership interest(s) in the sending site are in the name(s) of the person(s) whose signature(s) appear on the application for TDR certificates and that there are no existing conservation easements on the sending site.

A declaration by the applicant(s) describing the status of ongoing code enforcement actions, if any, relating to the sending site and the steps taken by the applicant to resolve the violations.

Any applicable review or other fees.

If the information required by this section is inadequate or unavailable, the department may require additional documentation from the applicant or rely on information contained in the county geographic information system or other county records.

Following application for TDR certificates by the sending site owner or authorized agent, staff shall verify the development right credit calculations prior to issuing a TDR certificate letter of intent.

The department will issue a TDR certificate letter of intent upon verification of sending site eligibility under this chapter. The letter shall contain a determination of the number of development rights calculated for the sending site pursuant to Section 17.580.060 and an agreement by the department to issue a corresponding number of TDR certificates in exchange for a sending site conservation easement granted to the county by the sending site owner pursuant to Section 17.580.100. The sending site owner may use the TDR certificate letter of intent to market sending site development rights to potential purchasers, but the TDR certificate letter of intent shall have no intrinsic value and cannot be transferred or used to obtain increased density within receiving areas. A TDR certificate letter of intent shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issuance. If a TDR certificate letter of intent has not been converted to serially numbered TDR certificates within five years from the date of issuance, the landowner must reapply to the program to update the determination of eligibility and calculation of development rights for the sending site.

As provided by the TDR certificate letter of intent, the department shall issue serially numbered TDR certificates to the sending site owner upon acceptance and recording of a county-approved conservation easement pursuant to the requirements of this section and Section 17.580.100; provided, however, that the department shall have thirty days from the date the conservation easement is offered by the sending site owner in which to conduct, at its discretion, a review of the sending site permit file and/or a site inspection. If, based on such a review, the department determines that conditions on the sending site are materially different than those documented in the application and county review under this section, the department shall reject the conservation easement and the TDR certificate letter of intent shall be null and void. Where a TDR certificate has been determined to be null and void pursuant to this subsection, a sending site owner may reapply for TDR certificates and such reapplications shall be subject to the requirements of this section.

A legal description of the sending site.

The serial numbers of the TDR certificates to be issued by the department on the sending site that is the subject of the conservation easement.

A covenant prohibiting any subdivision of the sending site except for subdivisions, if any, that were proposed in the documentation submitted to the department pursuant to Section 17.580.090(A)(2)(d).

A covenant prohibiting all uses that impair or diminish the functions and values of the property that comprise the public benefit being conserved, which, depending on the property will include the agricultural or forest use, and may include watershed function, habitat, or open space use, and prohibiting the construction of any new residential structures in the easement area.

A covenant that all provisions of the conservation easement shall run with the land and bind the sending site in perpetuity, and may be enforced by the county.

A statement that nothing in the restrictions shall be construed to convey to the public a right of access or use of the property and that the owner of the property, his or her heirs, successors and assigns shall retain exclusive rights to such access or use subject to the terms of the conservation easement.

Additional provisions that are reasonably necessary for the enforcement and administration of the conservation easement as determined by the director, including a covenant granting the county a right of entry, subject to reasonable advance notice, to conduct brief inspections for the sole purpose of determining compliance with the requirements of the easement.

A legal description and map of the sending site.

The names of the transferor and the transferee and the serial number(s) of the TDR certificates being transferred.

A covenant that the transferor grants and assigns to the transferee a specified number of certified development rights from the sending site.

Proof of ownership of the sending site by the transferor or, if the transferor is not the owner of the sending site, a declaration that the transferor has either:

Certification of the number of certified development rights on the sending site and copies of the TDR certificates issued by the department for the sending site pursuant to Section 17.580.090.

Proof of payment to the state of any required excise taxes and payment to the county of recording fees for the transaction.

Proof of the execution and recordation of a conservation easement on the sending site, as required by Section 17.580.100.

The signature of the department staff member(s) who have reviewed the deed for completeness.