21.48.010 Transfer of Development Rights Program

21.48.010 Transfer of Development Rights Program.

A. Purpose. The purpose of Redmond’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program is to advance Comprehensive Plan goals and policies that address the protection of environmentally critical areas, historic resources (including archeological resources), open spaces, and the ability to provide affordable housing, by transferring the right to develop on the land needing protection to land more suitable for urban development.

B. Explanation of TDRs. Figure 21.48.010 illustrates the general concept of a TDR program:

Figure 21.48.010 Explanation of TDRs

1. Land is eligible if it complies with all of the criteria for at least one of the eligibility categories as described in Table 21.48.010A, Eligibility Categories and Criteria, and with all of the criteria in paragraph (2) following the table.

Table 21.48.010A Eligibility Categories and Criteria
Eligibility category	Eligibility criteria
Urban Recreation	A. Located in the UR zone; and Wholly undeveloped or in agricultural or recreational use.
Historic	A. Listed on the Redmond Historic Resource Register; or B. Otherwise eligible under RZC 21.30, Historic and Archeological Resources.
Environmentally Critical Area	A. Located in one or more of the following areas: 1. Species Protection Area; 2. Category I or Category II wetland or wetland buffer; 3. Class I or Class II stream or stream buffer; 4. Landslide hazard area or buffer; 5. Contiguous forest community characterized by a qualified arborist or ecologist as: a. Having three layers of vegetation – canopy, subcanopy/shrub, and herb – dominated by native species; and b. Having at least 20 percent of canopy trees estimated to be at least 50 years of age; and c. Measuring at least one acre; and B. Wholly undeveloped, or partially undeveloped or vacant, where the Administrator determines that eligible environmentally critical areas listed in (1) above could be maintained without compromising the ecological functions and values of those critical areas.
Affordable Housing	A. Complies with RZC 21.48.010.G, Affordable Housing Bonus.

2. The following criteria must also be met:

a. The land’s development rights or development capacity shall not have been exhausted, sold, or transferred; or limited by easements, deed restrictions, equitable servitudes, or similar measures to any of the following:

i. Agriculture, recreation, open space; or

ii. Preservation of environmentally critical areas and their buffers, as described in Table 1, through means including, but not limited to, a Native Growth Protection Area or open space easement.

b. The land shall not have been granted a reasonable use exception under RZC 21.76.070.U, Reasonable Use Exception (Critical Areas/Hazardous Liquid Pipelines and High Capacity Transit Corridor Preservation). Nothing in this chapter shall require that a reasonable use exception granted under the Reasonable Use Provision equal the economic value of the TDRs granted under this division.

c. The land shall not be part of any property the Comprehensive Plan designates for use as a collector, arterial street, or highway.

D. Receiving Area Properties. Properties eligible to use development rights transferred from sending areas are those within the following zones: all Downtown zones, Overlake Village (OV); General Commercial (GC); Overlake Business and Advanced Technology (OBAT); Regional Retail Design District (RR); Business Park (BP); Manufacturing Park (MP); and Industry (I).

1. The following table assigns development rights multipliers for all eligible sending areas except historic landmarks.

Table 21.48.010B Calculating Development Rights
Zone	Transferable Development Rights per Acre of Eligible Land
UR	1.1
RA-5	1.1
R-1	1.9
R-3	6.0
R-4	6.5
R-5	6.9
R-6	7.5
R-8	8.2
R-12	8.2
R-18	8.2
R-20	8.2
R-30	8.2
Downtown – all zones	13.8
NC-1, NC-2	8.1
GC	7.6
OV	14
OBAT	14
RR	9.5
BP	8.7
MP	5.7
I	5.7

2. Sending areas in the Residential Development and Conservation Overlay zone in the North Redmond neighborhood shall be granted TDRs based on the R-1 multiplier in the preceding table.

3. If a zone is not listed in the table in this section, the Administrator shall classify the zone in the table row that contains the zone most similar to it based on allowed development intensity and allowed uses.

4. Development Right Transfers for Historic Landmarks in a Commercial Zone. For the purpose of awarding TDRs, property with eligible historic sites shall be considered to be vacant, and development rights shall be calculated according to the table in subsection E.1 of this section. For example, a property with a historic structure in a GC zone shall be awarded 7.6 TDRs per eligible acre of the property.

1. Each development right may be used as a right for any one of the following, subject to the limitations of this division and other zoning code chapters:

a. To authorize an additional 8,712 square feet of gross floor area;

b. To increase the maximum impervious surface or maximum lot coverage by 8,712 square feet, provided that the total increase does not exceed 10 percent of the allowed maximum square footage for the site;

c. To increase the height of a structure, including above-ground structured parking, by one story across each 8,712-square-foot increment of gross floor area or parking floor plate. In no case shall total building height be greater than one story above the height allowed by the underlying zone; the height bonus shall not apply to structures within the shoreline jurisdiction or within the Downtown height limit overlay areas; or

d. Adding up to five parking stalls, provided that the total number of parking stalls for the development, including all bonuses provided by this division, shall not exceed:

i. 25 percent above the maximum allowed by the underlying zone in the Downtown and Overlake Neighborhoods; or

ii. 30 percent above the maximum allowed by the underlying zone in all other neighborhoods;

iii. Five stalls per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area;

iv. This bonus shall not be combined with any other parking ratio bonus.

v. Repealed.

2. A fraction of a development right shall be entitled to the corresponding fraction of any of the above.

3. A land use application using Transferred Development Rights shall contain a statement describing the amount of the development rights proposed to be used and how the development rights are proposed to be used.

1. When zoning or site planning constraints prevent project proponents from building bonus market-rate units to which the proponents would otherwise be entitled under RZC 21.20, Affordable Housing, the Administrator shall convert the number of bonus market-rate units not developed on the site into TDRs for use or sale.

2. The quantity of TDRs shall be equal to the number of bonus market-rate homes not developed on the project site due to zoning or site constraints.

3. When TDRs are granted for providing affordable housing in Downtown, each 8,712 square feet of credit shall be equal to one TDR. (Ord. 2614; Ord. 2709; Ord. 2803)