County’s "Development Credit" bank saves Sugarloaf Mountain

King County Executive Ron Sims today announced that one of the Earth Legacy Initiatives has been so successful that the County will be able to permanently preserve Sugarloaf Mountain in Ravensdale as open space.

Sims said his Transfer of Development Credits (TDC) program moves densities from rural into urban areas of King County. This preserves rural areas permanently, while increasing densities in participating cities. Densities are held in the TDC “bank” pending acquisition by landowners in urban areas.

"Our 'bank' has just acquired all of the development credits on Sugarloaf Mountain to permanently keep, protect, and preserve those 285 acres in Ravensdale. This is the first acquisition by the TDC bank," Sims announced today.

"The award winning TDC program continues to effectively implement my aggressive SmartGrowth strategy to preserve the rural area and encourage development in the urban area," said Sims. "We are negotiating with several Seattle landowners to purchase these credits for their urban development."

The land is appraised at $2.6 million. King County is acquiring all 56 development credits for $1.4 million from the TDC bank. Landowners Jim and Terri Cook are donating the residual interest in the property for permanent forestry, wildlife habitat preservation and passive recreation. The Cooks are strong supporters of the TDC program.

"We believe that government needs to provide real incentives for private landowners to voluntarily preserve rural lands. TDC is one of the best ways to do that," the Cooks added.

The TDC program has acquired approximately 700 acres valued at $10 million. Those acquisitions cost the public only $1.7 million.

Sugarloaf Mountain is a high priority acquisition in the Rock Creek Valley Vision and includes scenic views of Mt. Rainier, the Cedar River Watershed, downtown Seattle and downtown Tacoma.

"Acquisition of these development credits will prevent costly rural sprawl. It will eliminate the public costs associated with providing public safety, schools and road improvement services to a remote rural neighborhood. This program will continue to be a priority as part of our Earth Legacy program," said Sims.