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LVN Staff Writer
The first transfer of development rights (TDRs) received approval from Churchill County commissioners Tuesday.
The agreements were reached with two separate land owners. Both came before the commission as a formality to gain approval of the agreements before they could be signed and paid for by the county.
"This is the best thing we've done in years to preserve the water supply in our county and a step toward a brighter future," said Gwen Washburn, commission chair. "I'm so pleased someone was able to step forward and take the first chance."
The TDR ordinance was developed to preserve agriculture as an economic program for landowners with a minimum of 20-acre parcels. These properties can be sold to developers according to what they could receive and transferred to a location to be developed, according to the county. The property must have water rights and the property must remain agricultural and can no longer be sold or split up for development.
The first agreement to be heard by the commissioners was from William and Ruth Card, who had agreed to sell most of their TDRs to the county. The assessment of TDRs states the Cards had 262 sellable TDRs.
In the Cards' agreement, 227 of those TDRs were sold to the county. Included in the TDRs for this agreement are 314.33 acres with 104.5 water-righted acres at a cost of $365,000 plus other fees. The Cards chose to retain 35 TDRs for use at a later date.
The second TDR agreement voted on by the commission was from Ernie Schank and other members of the Schank family with 221 TDRs up for approval. The agreement included 214.32 acres with 183.85 water-righted acres at a cost of $840,000 plus other fees. The Schanks retained 70 of the 291 available TDRs.
"I have long advocated protecting water," said Schank. "The county stepped ahead today to protect water for our county."
There is a specific formula to determine the number of TDRs available on a property at the planning office for review, said Eleanor Lockwood, county planning director.
According to the TDR ordinance, the seller must appear before the commissioners to gain the county's approval. The agreements then go into escrow and await a closing before any money is exchanged between the sellers and the county.
The TDR program took more than a year to develop and was collaboration of several county entities working together to form a TDR ordinance specific to Churchill County, said Jeanette Dahl, former director of Lahontan Valley Environmental Alliance
Dahl said those who want to participate in the TDR program need to evaluate it and take the process slowly.
"This was a very significant day," said Brad Goetsch, county manager. "Churchill County is going into the future conserving our resources."
This ordinance will help the county to preserve agriculture land within the Navy's buffer zone and reduce the possibility of future encroachment upon the Navy base, said Capt. Scott Ryder at a previous meeting.
The fear of base closures and encroachment like that upon NAS Oceana in Virginia is a reality, said Goetsch, himself a former commanding officer of NAS Fallon.
Encroachment includes environmental restrictions on military activities, land use incompatibility and urban sprawl, according to the U.S. Department of Defense Web site. The competition for airspace use and decreased radio frequency spectrum for the military are essential. Defense officials examine the military value to the state and local economy.
The two agreements purchased by the county consist of 448 TDRs. This is a total of 528.65 acres with 288.35 water righted acres at a cost of $1,205,000 which will be split by the Navy.
The Navy set aside $2.9 million for TDRs at the program's inception. The Navy will reimburse the county $602,500 for half the cost of these two TDR agreements, said Goetsch.
"This is a great day for the county," said Norm Frey, county commissioner.
The first transfer of development rights (TDRs) received approval from Churchill County commissioners Tuesday.
The agreements were reached with two separate land owners. Both came before the commission as a formality to gain approval of the agreements before they could be signed and paid for by the county.
"This is the best thing we've done in years to preserve the water supply in our county and a step toward a brighter future," said Gwen Washburn, commission chair. "I'm so pleased someone was able to step forward and take the first chance."
The TDR ordinance was developed to preserve agriculture as an economic program for landowners with a minimum of 20-acre parcels. These properties can be sold to developers according to what they could receive and transferred to a location to be developed, according to the county. The property must have water rights and the property must remain agricultural and can no longer be sold or split up for development.
The first agreement to be heard by the commissioners was from William and Ruth Card, who had agreed to sell most of their TDRs to the county. The assessment of TDRs states the Cards had 262 sellable TDRs.
In the Cards' agreement, 227 of those TDRs were sold to the county. Included in the TDRs for this agreement are 314.33 acres with 104.5 water-righted acres at a cost of $365,000 plus other fees. The Cards chose to retain 35 TDRs for use at a later date.
The second TDR agreement voted on by the commission was from Ernie Schank and other members of the Schank family with 221 TDRs up for approval. The agreement included 214.32 acres with 183.85 water-righted acres at a cost of $840,000 plus other fees. The Schanks retained 70 of the 291 available TDRs.
"I have long advocated protecting water," said Schank. "The county stepped ahead today to protect water for our county."
There is a specific formula to determine the number of TDRs available on a property at the planning office for review, said Eleanor Lockwood, county planning director.
According to the TDR ordinance, the seller must appear before the commissioners to gain the county's approval. The agreements then go into escrow and await a closing before any money is exchanged between the sellers and the county.
The TDR program took more than a year to develop and was collaboration of several county entities working together to form a TDR ordinance specific to Churchill County, said Jeanette Dahl, former director of Lahontan Valley Environmental Alliance
Dahl said those who want to participate in the TDR program need to evaluate it and take the process slowly.
"This was a very significant day," said Brad Goetsch, county manager. "Churchill County is going into the future conserving our resources."
This ordinance will help the county to preserve agriculture land within the Navy's buffer zone and reduce the possibility of future encroachment upon the Navy base, said Capt. Scott Ryder at a previous meeting.
The fear of base closures and encroachment like that upon NAS Oceana in Virginia is a reality, said Goetsch, himself a former commanding officer of NAS Fallon.
Encroachment includes environmental restrictions on military activities, land use incompatibility and urban sprawl, according to the U.S. Department of Defense Web site. The competition for airspace use and decreased radio frequency spectrum for the military are essential. Defense officials examine the military value to the state and local economy.
The two agreements purchased by the county consist of 448 TDRs. This is a total of 528.65 acres with 288.35 water righted acres at a cost of $1,205,000 which will be split by the Navy.
The Navy set aside $2.9 million for TDRs at the program's inception. The Navy will reimburse the county $602,500 for half the cost of these two TDR agreements, said Goetsch.
"This is a great day for the county," said Norm Frey, county commissioner.
