A.D Makepeace will be the first land owner in Wareham to apply for a transfer of development rights, after a development rights bylaw was narrowly passed by Town Meeting this past April.

The cranberry company will be looking to transfer the the development rights on two parcels of land totaling 149 acres at the northern end of Maple Springs Road to an undetermined Makepeace property in a more residential area of town.

The bylaw allows landowners in most areas of town to sell their right to develop large parcels of land to property owners in residential zoning districts. Town planning authorities will have to approve both the terms of a "conservation restriction" forever prohibiting development on the first “sending” parcel and the specifics of the more intense development on the “receiving” parcel.

"What this does for the town is promote development in areas of the town that are already developed. The infrastructure is already in place, so it doesn't add additional cost to the town to maintain that," said George Barrett, chair of the Planning Board, at April's Town Meeting. "It gives us development we've seen but with the added benefit of preserving lands for the future."

The Makepeace application for the special permit states: "Although a specific receiving area or use for the development rights has not been finalized at this time, it is anticipated that the development rights will be transferred to other properties of the A.D. Makepeace Company . . . likely in the vicinity of Parker Mills Pond, Charge Pond Road, Tihonet Village or Tihonet Road."

According to the application, the two sending areas have 50 total development rights that can be transferred out of the Agricultural Residential zoning district to certain residential ones.

Per the bylaw, the total number of development rights in the receiving area can't exceed: 12 dwelling units per acre for a structure of two or more dwelling units, or eight dwelling units per acre a for a single family, detached dwelling unit.

Makepeace will likely have to file an additional special permit when the development rights are proposed to be transferred which will document the receiving area requirements, according to the application.

If the special permit is granted, the 149 acres of forest will be preserved through a conservation restriction then conveyed to an appropriate land conservancy or trust, according to the application.

The two sending parcels abut the Wareham/Plymouth town line, the Myles Standish forest, the landholdings of the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Wareham Fire District.