The Purchase and Retirement (PAR) was established by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in 1992. The program serves as an added mechanism for the sale of TDRs. Unlike a traditional market sale PAR transactions utilize county funds to retire TDRs thus removing density rather than moving it. The BOCC sets the TDR price based on the recommendation from the Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board (APAB). Eligible Agricultural Preservation District (APD) owners can apply to sell TDRs to the PAR fund. Applications are ranked by the APAB. The APAB sends offer letters until funding is exhausted.
If you need any additional information please contact Ron Marney at 410-535-1600 x2336.
PAR Ranking
Once an application from an eligible APD has been submitted for PAR it is ranked based on the following:
NOTE: In the event that two or more PAR Fund Applications are tied in rank, first priority will be given to the application which has least recently conveyed TDRs to the PAR Fund and second priority will be given to property enrolled in an APD for the longest time.
Land Use
Points
Active working farm
60% Tillable
33
40% Tillable
25
20% Tillable
17
Active Tree Farm
13
Undesignated Land
0
Location
A plus B
Points
A
In DAA
15
Not in DAA
0
B
Adjacent to preserved APD
10
Adjacent to unprotected APD
5
Not adjacent to an APD
0
Size
Points
100+ acres
25
75+ acres
20
50+ acres
15
25+ acres
10
10+ acres
5
-10 acres
0
Soils
Points
50% Class I
17
50% Class I and II
11
50% Class I, II, III
5
0
Bonus Points
Points
Any property that has not sold any development rights to any purchaser