Woolwich Township aims to curb its massive growth by controlling where building happens.
WOOLWICH TWP. -- It's one of the fastest growing municipalities on the East Coast, and has been for more than a decade, but Woolwich Township is trying to control its growth, allowing development to come while keeping some of its original agricultural heritage.
Woolwich Township's population grew more than 236 percent between the 2000 and 2010 census. Housing developments seems to spring up throughout the township for years, and stores and restaurants followed.
The governing body of the township soon realized that without some sort of control, the farms and open space that once made the area attractive would soon be a thing of the past. That's where the transfer of development rights program comes in.
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
The township's transfer of development rights program (TDR) aims to preserve land by allowing developers to purchase development rights credits for land in a designated "sending zone," which can later be used to build in an area approved for development.
The program began in 2008, but quickly slowed as the nation entered a recession and development dried up. As the economy begins to come back, however, Woolwich is working to be proactive in getting the TDR program back up and running by utilizing a brand new technique.
Woolwich will be holding a reverse auction for the development rights currently owned by some of its residents and landowners.
Landowners in the TDR sending zones can find out how many development credits their land is worth at the township, where it was outlined in the TDR ordinance passed in 2008.
SELLING YOUR DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
"We decided that doing the auction is the best way to give every single landowner the same opportunity to sell their credits to the township," said Matt Blake, the township's director of community development.
Landowners, who all received certified letters stating their eligibility for the program, are asked to submit what they would like to receive for their respective development rights and the township will purchase some of them for later use in development zones such at the Route 322 regional center -- where a major housing and commercial development is planned.
A $5 million grant from the state's TDR Bank -- a fund set up by the state of New Jersey that is used to save land from development -- as well as $2 million budgeted from the township, will be used in purchasing the land's development rights.
The preserved land can be preserved as farms or used to create a limited type of development such as breweries, wineries, day camps or bed and breakfasts.
"It's really meant to foster and encourage agritourism," Blake said. "We hope we're going to create a niche."
The township will hold an information session for landowners at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the municipal building. All bids will be opened at the reverse auction on March 8 at 7 p.m.
Rebecca Forand may be reached at rforand@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @RebeccaForand. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.