(a) For the purposes of this section and § 13b-57, “harbor improvement agency” means any board, commission, agency or department of any municipality designated by the chief executive officer of such municipality and approved by the governing body thereof for the purpose of carrying out a harbor improvement project under this section.

(b) Any municipality may undertake a harbor improvement project, including the development, improvement, construction and installation of berthing areas, channels to berthing areas, sea walls, piers, docks, navigation aids, bridges and other related facilities and structures, pursuant to a harbor improvement plan. The harbor improvement agency may prepare or cause to be prepared a harbor improvement plan, and may approve such plan after (1) obtaining the approval of the planning agency of the municipality, and (2) holding a public hearing thereon, notice of which shall be published at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality, the first publication of notice to be not less than two weeks before the date of the public hearing.

(c) Such harbor improvement plan shall include: (1) A description of the harbor improvement area and the condition, type and use of the structures and facilities therein; (2) the location and extent of the proposed land uses and harbor uses in such area; (3) the location and extent of streets and public utilities, facilities and works within the area; (4) schedules showing the number of families and businesses to be displaced by the proposed improvement, the method of relocating such families and businesses and the availability of sufficient suitable living accommodations at prices and rentals within the financial means of such families and located within a reasonable distance of the area from which they are displaced; (5) present and proposed zoning regulations in the harbor improvement area; (6) a description of all land to be acquired and buildings and improvements to be demolished and removed or rehabilitated; (7) a description of all improvements to be constructed, installed or made; (8) the plan’s relationship to definite local objectives; (9) financial aspects of the project; and (10) a ratio of the costs of the project to the benefits to be derived therefrom.

(d) After approval of the harbor improvement plan by the harbor improvement agency, the plan shall be submitted to the Connecticut Port Authority and the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection and, if approved by the authority and the commissioner, may be adopted by the governing body of the municipality. A harbor development plan may be modified at any time by a harbor improvement agency, provided such modification is consented to in writing by each purchaser or lessee of land in the harbor improvement project affected by such modification, and such modification does not substantially change the plan; otherwise any modification to such plan shall be approved in the same manner as the plan. Any municipality and its harbor improvement agency may exercise, for the purposes of undertaking a harbor improvement project, all the powers and authority granted to a municipality and to a redevelopment agency for the purposes of a redevelopment or urban renewal project pursuant to chapter 130.