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Before a crowd of more than 200 people, Prince George's County Council members Tuesday once again postponed a new law that would require builders to buy farmland preservation credits in the rural part of the county in exchange for building more densely in other parts of the county.

The vote on the Transfer of Development Rights bill was delayed after a prolonged public hearing where more than 50 developers and farmers testified for more than two hours, with the majority warning the bill would stop development in Prince George's County.

"We have watched the cavalcade of zoning lawyers come down," said Councilman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel, who sponsored the bill.

The "cavalcade" included more than 50 residents, developers, lawyers and former lawmakers who said the legislation could have a chilling effect on Prince George's.

"It's my observation that when we enact something bad in the county, we never seem able to get rid of it," said former County Executive Wayne Curry. "We do all these things and shoot ourselves in the foot, and then we wonder why we're bleeding. I'm not aware of anything more important to reject — for the economy, the community and the county — than this bill."

Under the tabled zoning rules proposed by Dernoga, rural landowners in the southern and eastern parts of the county would be able to sell development rights to their land to private companies, essentially promising not to convert the natural, open space into subdivisions or further build on it.

In exchange, developers who purchase the rights would get credits allowing them to build with more houses or gain special exceptions like hotels and other facilities on other land.

Dernoga moved to withdraw the bill after council members said they could not support it in current form.

"If the council wants to take another stab at it, I'm willing to table it," he told council members. "But are you going to work for it?"

Council Chairman Samuel H. Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville said he still had concerns about the whole TDR concept.

"We've been doing this for five years, and every time we come to this point, we fail," he said.

The removal of the bill means the measure will likely not come back for at least six months, when the council will be under new management, Dernoga noted.

"Perhaps the next chair of the council will come up with a way for everyone to feel included," Dernoga said.

While farmers and environmentalists supporting the bill said it is long overdue and will help preserve land in the rural parts of the county, opponents said it would put an unfair tax on them by forcing builders to buy the credits, threatening construction in a financially shaky time.

"This will discourage, if not end, redevelopment," said Diana Fennell, Colmar Manor's mayor. "It's hard enough to attract development as it is."

Opponents also said the bill's current form was confusing and legally questionable.

"I asked one of your assistants," testified Richard H. Dobson of Brandywine. "They said they've read it 18 times and they still don't understand it. Who here understands it?"

Tom Farasy, vice president of the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association, called the bill "bad for the industry and bad for the economy."

"This is not a transfer of development rights program — it's a tax program," Farasy said.

Most of the speakers opposed the bill, though it was not universal.

"People have said over and over that they want to preserve land, end sprawl and be able to live near where they work," said Charles Reilly, chairman of the Prince George's County Sierra Club, who said the proposal should go forward. "Our county's general plan calls for revitalization, not sprawl."

Supporter Fred Tutman urged the council to ignore the development lawyers' warnings.

"You are here to protect the public interest, not the private interests" said the Upper Marlboro resident, who asked the council to pass the bill "in the interest of economic and environmental justice."

The Maryland General Assembly gave counties the power to create TDR programs in 1978. Similar programs have been operating in other counties since the 1980s, including one in Montgomery County that has preserved thousands of acres in land.

Programs have been proposed repeatedly for years in Prince George's County, but previous bills ended up being tabled without action. After failing to reach an agreement, council members appointed a special task force last year that came up with the current TDR plan.

The current proposal provoked a rare split among the legislative group, which has been negotiating and lobbying behind closed doors since it was introduced last month. A council committee reviewing the bill failed to come up with a consensus before sending it on to the council for Tuesday's vote, while County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) has written a letter warning that the legislation could negatively affect economic development.

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.