2009Go Green Virginia Regional Forum, Richmond

Round Table 2: Go GreenLand Use Policies, PDRs & TDRs

Facilitator Title:Kevin Schmidt, Coordinator, Office of Farmland Preservation, VirginiaDepartment of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS)

Basic Concepts:

Office of Farmland Preservation

In 2001, the Virginia General Assembly established the Office of Farmland Preservation (OFP) within the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS).
OFP was established to address the significant loss of farm and forest land that has occurred over the past several years. Between 2002 and 2007, the amount of land in farms in Virginia declined on average by 104,181 acres each year. This is more than a 300 percent increase in the average annual rate of decline from the previous five-year period.[1]

This loss is particularly significant since agriculture and forestry have always been the backbone of Virginia’s economy. Together, they are the state’s largest industry, contributing $79 billion annually to Virginia’s economy and providing more than 500,000 jobs.[2]

The Code of Virginia charges OFPwith five important missions:

  • To work with other governmental and private organizations to help establish and support localpurchase of development rights (PDR) programs
  • To create programs to educate the public about the importance of farmland preservation
  • To help farmers with farmland preservation efforts
  • To assist local governments in developing additional farmland preservation policies and programs, and
  • To administer the Virginia Farm Link program

Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Programs

OFPworks with local governments, farm and conservation organizations, and other interested parties to establish local purchase of development rights programs (PDR). PDR programs compensate landowners that permanently preserve their land by voluntarily placing a perpetual conservation easement on the property. Twenty-one local PDR programs exist to date in Virginia, seventeen of which have some level of local funding currently available.

The Virginia Farmland Preservation Task Force, established by the VDACS Commissioner, developed a model PDR program outline for the Commonwealth and its localities. A Model Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program for Virginia outlines the program elements that each local PDR program should address, and makes recommendations for maximizing the success of these local programs in Virginia.

Governor Kaine and the General Assembly agreed as part of the 2007 budget amendment to provide OFP with $4.25 million in state matching funds for local PDR programs for the 2006-2008 biennium. This funding was significant, as it was the first time that the Commonwealth of Virginia provided state funds to match local PDR efforts. VDACS allocated an additional $500,000 in FY 2009, and plans to allocate another $500,000 for FY 2010 by December 2009.

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Programs

Under the Code of Virginia localities are authorized to establish programs that transfer the development rights from a “sending” property (property that the locality is trying to protect) to one or more “receiving” properties. These TDR programs are similar to PDR programs in thatwilling landowners agree to permanently restrict the use of a parcel of land to protect a particular conservation purpose. The difference, however, is that instead of a local government paying the landowner for placing restrictions on the land, the market compensates the landowner. In return for paying the landowner for severing their development rights, the purchaser receives some kind of bonus that can be used (generally to increase density) in the receiving area.

While this allowance was established in 2006, no Virginialocality has enacted a TDR program to date. Recognizing this, the 2008 General Assembly established a joint legislative subcommittee to examine the transfer of development rights, and ways to make this tool more appealing to localities. The joint committee recommendations were incorporated into House Bill 2055, which was passed by the General Assembly in the 2009 session and signed into law by Governor Kaine in March 2009.

References to Additional Resources:

Office of Farmland Preservation

Web site:

Purchase of Development Rights Programs

A Model Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) Program for Virginia:

FY 2009 Fiscal certification form:

FY 2009 Program certification form:

Links to Individual PDR programs in Virginia:

PDR fact sheets from American Farmland Trust:

Transfer of Development Rights Programs

TDR Fact Sheet from American Farmland Trust:

2009 changes to the Code of Virginia:

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[1]United States Department of Agriculture, 2009. 2007 Census of Agriculture

[2]WeldonCooperCenter for Public Service, 2008. The economic impact of agriculture 2. and forestry on the Commonwealth of Virginia.