A November 21 SoMdNews.com article reported that the Charles County commissioners unanimously approved the creation of a local purchase of development rights (PDR) program.  Under the program, the county will buy and retire development rights from selected rural properties.  The properties must be at least 50 acres in size or contiguous to already preserved land.  From the article:

Local officials, farmers and environmentalists have pushed for years for the county to establish a PDR program, and it has been a long-standing recommendation in several county planning documents. It was also among the recommendations made by a working group tasked earlier this year with drawing the county’s septic tier maps.

The program has been largely modeled after Calvert County’s PDR program, “which is long-standing and noted as very successful,” environmental Program Manager Charles Rice said Tuesday evening prior to a public hearing on the PDR legislation.