§ 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.)