Summit County’s transferable development rights (TDR) program allows for development rights in a rural "sending area" (primarily backcountry properties) to be voluntarily transferred to an urban "receiving area" that can more appropriately accommodate the development.
TDRs have been used successfully by many jurisdictions to redirect growth and development to protect valued resources, such as farmland, ranches, rural backcountry areas, view corridors, hillsides, community separation and open space buffers and environmentally sensitive areas. TDR programs help preserve these types of resources by compensating landowners who might otherwise develop their properties.
The current price of a TDR sold from the Joint Upper Blue Bank and the Countywide Upper Blue Account is $237,070 and the price of a TDR sold from the Countywide Tenmile and Snake River Accounts is $102,565.
Summit County has made extensive use of TDRs.