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The Prince George's County Council plans to vote later this month on whether to create a Transfer of Development Rights program, a controversial effort that seeks to balance development desires with land preservation needs.

The program would allow owners of rural property in the county to sell development rights to developers. The rural land owners would continue to own their property but would not be allowed to further build on it. In exchange, developers would receive credits based on the land amount purchased and could use the credits to build in areas targeted for denser development.

For those sitting on a lot of acreage, especially many farmers struggling to make a living, the TDR plan is a welcome proposal. It allows them to continue to live on land without completely missing out on the fortunes amassed by those who have sold property to developers. The legislation becomes even more crucial in light of the state's tobacco buyout that occurred between 2000 and 2004. In Prince George's, 102 tobacco farmers – many at or near retirement age – took the offer to receive money in exchange for halting tobacco production. Those who took the deal were required to keep the land dedicated to agricultural production for 10 years. Soon, many of those farmers will be eligible to sell their land to developers. The TDR plan may be a good way for the county to keep from losing large lots of land to development.

But the program has a bumper crop of challenges.

Developers would likely be forced to pay for credits to build in areas where increased density has long been an option but has remained unpopular, even without any extra points needed. Areas targeted for growth, such as around county Metro stations, have struggled to attract the businesses and development that county officials had hoped for, and some developers say having to pay for credits won't improve the situation. The deteriorating housing market has made the TDR legislation even more burdensome for developers, who say they would have previously passed the cost of buying credits onto buyers when business was good.

Adequate public services must also be addressed before any development credits are doled out. After all, adding to already congested areas will only exacerbate overcrowded schools, congested roads and stretched-thin police and emergency staffing. The county should be responsible for bringing facilities and services up to standard, but developers should pitch in as density increases.

Most importantly, the County Council and Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission must be on the same page with regard to managing growth. Complaints that developers haven't been building in the right places indicates more needs to be done to attract builders to areas in need of development. And new communities where single-family homes are often bunched closely together – a large source of complaints – could not have been approved without a nod from county and planning officials.

In the end, TDRs would be a step forward for the county. Preserving rural areas not only adds to the beauty of Prince George's, but it protects environmentally sensitive areas and contributes to growth-management principles.

County officials should work closely with Montgomery County, where the TDR program has been in existence for years, to model their successes and consider areas for improvement.