Blue Earth County, population 55,941 (2000), lies in the flat plains of southern Minnesota, 90 miles southwest of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The County allows development rights to be transferred to contiguous properties in its Agricultural and Conservation zoning districts subject to the conditional use permit process. With TDR, receiving site densities increase from one unit per 40 acres to one unit per 10 acres, a 300 percent increase. The procedural details of this program are explained in Beyond Takings and Givings.
In a February 2005 update, Veryl Morrell, the County's Land Use Administrator, reported that the TDR ordinance had not been changed and that the program was preserving better farmland, as intended. The County averages a couple of transfers per month. Since the County began tracking TDRs, it has processed approximately 100 transfers resulting in the protection of about 4,000 acres of farmland.
