§ 3201. Definitions

The following terms wherever used or referred to in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:

(1) “Agency” or “urban renewal agency” shall mean a public agency created by section 3220 of this title.

(2) “Area of operation” shall mean the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and the area within five miles of such limits, except that it shall not include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of another incorporated city or town unless a resolution shall have been adopted by the governing body of such other city or town declaring a need therefor.

(3) “Blighted area” shall mean an area which, by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slum, deteriorated, or deteriorating structures; predominance of defective or inadequate street layout; faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness; insanitary or unsafe conditions; deterioration of site or other improvements; diversity of ownership; tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land; defective or unusual conditions of title; or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes; or any combination of such factors, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipality, retards the provision of housing accommodations, or constitutes an economic or social liability and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use. If such blighted area consists of open land the conditions contained in the proviso in subsection 3207(d) of this title shall apply. Any disaster area referred to in subsection 3207(g) of this title shall constitute a “blighted area.” No area shall be determined to be a blighted area solely or primarily because its condition and value for tax purposes are less than the condition and value projected as the result of the implementation of any State, municipal, or private redevelopment plan.

(4) “Board” or “commission” shall mean a board, commission, department, division, office, body, or other unit of the municipality.

(5) “Bonds” shall mean any bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures, or other obligations.

(6) “Clerk” shall mean the clerk or other official of the municipality who is the custodian of the official records of such municipality.

(7) “Federal government” shall include the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

(7a) “Housing authority” means a housing authority established under chapter 113 of this title.

(8) “Local governing body” shall mean the council or other legislative body charged with governing the municipality.

(9) “Mayor” shall mean the mayor of a municipality or other officer or body having the duties customarily imposed upon the executive head of a municipality.

(10) “Municipality” shall mean any city, village, or town in the State.

(11) “Obligee” shall include any bondholder, agents, or trustees for any bondholders, or lessor demising to the municipality property used in connection with an urban renewal project, or any assignee or assignees of such lessor’s interest or any part thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the municipality.

(12) “Person” shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association, or body politic; and shall include any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.

(13) “Public body” shall mean the State or any municipality, township, village, board, commission, authority, district, or any other subdivision or public body of the State.

(14) “Public officer” shall mean any officer who is in charge of any department or branch of the government of the municipality relating to health, fire, building regulations, or to other activities concerning dwellings in the municipality.

(15) “Real property” shall include all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest, right, and use, legal or equitable therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.

(15a) “Related activities” means:

(A) planning work for the preparation of a general neighborhood renewal plan, or for the preparation or completion of a community-wide plan or program under section 3208 of this title; and

(B) the functions related to the acquisition and disposal of real property under subdivision 3209(4) of this title.

(16) “Slum area” shall mean an area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence; inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces; high density of population and overcrowding; or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes; or any combination of such factors is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare.

(17) “Urban renewal area” means a slum area or a blighted area or a combination thereof which the local governing body designates as appropriate for an urban renewal project.

(18) “Urban renewal plan” means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for an urban renewal project, which plan:

(A) shall conform to the general plan for the municipality as a whole except as provided in subsection 3207(g) of this title and shall be consistent with definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements;

(B) shall be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition and removal of structures and redevelopment, and such rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the urban renewal area, to indicate proposed zoning and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, and building requirements, and to indicate in general terms the types of public improvements and proposal for redevelopment to be permitted or required; and

(C) may include such additional materials as may from time to time be required by federal laws, regulations, and administrative requirements.

(19) “Urban renewal project” may include undertakings and activities of a municipality in an urban renewal area for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of slums and blight, and may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in an urban renewal area, or rehabilitation or conservation in an urban renewal area, or any combination or part thereof in accordance with an urban renewal plan. Such undertakings and activities may include:

(A) acquisition of a slum area or a blighted area or portion thereof;

(B) demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;

(C) installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the urban renewal area the urban renewal objectives of this chapter in accordance with the urban renewal plan;

(D) disposition of any property acquired in the urban renewal area, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with urban renewal plan;

(E) acquisition of real property in the urban renewal area which, under the urban renewal plan, is to be repaired or rehabilitated for dwelling use or related facilities, repair or rehabilitation of the structures for guidance purposes, and resale of the property;

(F) acquisition, without regard to any requirement that the area be a slum or blighted area, of air rights in an area consisting principally of land in highways, railway or subway tracks, bridge or tunnel entrances, or other similar facilities which have a blighting influence on the surrounding area and over which air rights sites are to be developed for the elimination of those blighting influences and for the provision of housing and related facilities and uses designed specifically for, and limited to, families and individuals of low or moderate income;

(G) construction of foundations and platforms necessary for the provision of air rights sites of housing and related facilities and uses designed specifically for, and limited to, families and individuals of low or moderate income;

(H) related activities as defined in subdivision (15a) of this section;

(I) carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan; and

(J) acquisition of any other real property in the urban renewal area where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, insanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or otherwise to remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities. (Amended 1963, No. 2, § 4, eff. Feb. 14, 1963; 1966, No. 69 (Sp. Sess.), §§ 1, 2, eff. March 14, 1966; 2005, No. 111 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)