For the possible record number of attendees at July’s Real Estate Investment Society (“REIS”) luncheon, this won’t be news. For those folks who may have missed it, Assistant County Attorney Michael Jacob and Lee County Planning Manager Mikki Rozdolski walked us through the newly created Pine Island Transfer of Development Rights Program that is not only winning awards but has the potential to offer a workable density transfer program for Lee County developers and landowners.

Among the program’s highlights and innovative concepts is the ability to strip density units from qualifying land in Greater Pine Island and use “off-island” to qualifying receiving lands at a 1:2 ratio. For those looking to increase commercial square footage, the program also allows for the conversion of one (1) density unit to 10,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space. Attorney Jacob noted there is no limit to this conversion (i.e. if your project needs an additional 30,000 square feet, all you need is three (3) density units).

Another novel aspect of this program is that the land from which you take the units does not necessarily lose all economically viable use merely by participation in the program. An example Planning Manager Rozdolski provided was that you could strip off the development units from eligible property, but use that same property for limited agricultural uses, like growing mangoes and then selling those mangoes from a farm stand on the property. Clearly this incentivizes participation in the program since the landowner benefits from selling the units but continue to receive economic benefit from the property as well as general use and enjoyment of the property. This is in stark contrast to most other attempts at a TDR program where landowners remove development rights and essentially lose any benefit of owning the property.

The good news for anyone who wasn’t with us at REIS, the county has done a phenomenal job at getting the word out about this program and making information as accessible as possible. Head on over here to get additional information and dig into the myriad of innovative and inventive aspects this program has to offer.