Development Agreements Between Municipalities and Private Parties

Outline

1. Definition of a “Development Agreement” and how it differs from other types of agreements between the public and private sector
2. Where Development Agreements are currently authorized by statute and key differences among jurisdictions
3. Considerations for the public sector
   1. Legal issues
   2. Processing and approval
   3. Term including extensions
   4. Scope and duration of vested rights
   5. Fees and fee credits
   6. Limitations on partial assignments
   7. Phasing of community benefits
   8. Monitoring over time
   9. Open meetings and preserving confidentiality of financial and trade secret information
4. Considerations for the private sector
   1. Value for developer vs the cost of negotiation and “community benefits”
   2. Certainty for planning and budgeting
   3. Access to public infrastructure and potential reservations of capacity
   4. Clarity as to infrastructure obligations and phasing
   5. Reimbursement for oversized infrastructure and credits against fees
   6. Public financing mechanisms to help fund infrastructure
   7. Priority processing of applications
   8. Rights to assign and finance, including partial assignments

Benefits

The panel will review these and other topical issues:

• How development agreements provide benefits to local government and developers
• Issues to address in development agreements
• How development agreements can be phased and monitored over time
• The best ways to draft important provisions