V-152 



FINANCIAL INDUCEMENTS 



Local tax policies serve as financial inducements for private 

 owners to conserve their estuarine land by givinq them more 

 favorable terms than the standard ad valorem assessment of real 

 property. Preferential assessment of land— evaluation at actual 

 or current use rather than the fair market or development value-- 

 is one such technique. A second is deferred taxation, by which 

 taxes are held back until the land is converted to a "higher" use. 

 Grants or subsidies by local governments to the landowner so that 

 he may pay his property tax have also been proposed as a form of 

 rental payment to induce him to keep his land open. 



ZONING 



Land use controls, especially zoning, are employed by most local 

 governments, although their effectiveness is being increasingly 

 questioned. Zoning, or districting by permissible use, varies 

 widely from locality to locality. Some zoning tools are use 

 lists, density standards, and recently, performance standards 

 (locating according to operational characteristics). Critics 

 of this use-classification approach charge that it is unsatisfactory 

 for land conservation purposes because it is either too rigid 

 or allows for too many exceptions and variances. More imaginative 

 and flexible approaches, however, such as cluster zoning, planned- 

 unit development, and new-town zoning generally provide for 



