§ 3209. Powers
Every municipality shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out
and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including the following
powers in addition to others herein granted:
(1) to undertake and carry out urban renewal projects within its area of operation; and
to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the
exercise of its powers under this chapter; and to disseminate slum clearance and urban
renewal information;
(2) to provide or to arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair by any person or
agency, public or private, of services, privileges, works, streets, roads, public
utilities, or other facilities for or in connection with an urban renewal project;
to install, construct, and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and
other public improvements; and to agree to any conditions that it may deem reasonable
and appropriate attached to federal financial assistance and imposed pursuant to federal
law relating to the determination of prevailing salaries or wages or compliance with
labor standards, in the undertaking or carrying out of an urban renewal project, and
to include in any contract let in connection with such a project, provisions to fulfill
such of said conditions as it may deem reasonable and appropriate;
(3) within its area of operation, to enter into any building or property in any urban
renewal area in order to make inspections, surveys, appraisals, soundings, or test
borings, and to obtain an order for this purpose from a court of competent jurisdiction
in the event entry is denied or resisted; to acquire by purchase, lease, option, gift,
grant, bequest, devise, eminent domain, or otherwise, any real property, or personal
property for its administrative purposes, together with any improvements thereon;
to hold, improve, clear, or prepare for redevelopment any such property; to mortgage,
pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber or dispose of any real property; to insure
or provide for the insurance of any real or personal property or operations of the
municipality against any risks or hazards, including the power to pay premiums on
any such insurance; and to enter into any contracts necessary to effectuate the purposes
of this chapter; provided, however, that no statutory provision with respect to the
acquisition, clearance, or disposition of property by public bodies shall restrict
a municipality or other public body exercising powers hereunder, in the exercise of
such functions with respect to an urban renewal project, unless the Legislature shall
specifically so state;
(4) with the approval of the local governing body, (A) before approval of an urban renewal
plan, or approval of any modifications of the plan, to acquire real property in an
urban renewal area, demolish and remove any structures on the property, and pay all
costs related to the acquisition, demolition, or removal, including any administrative
or relocation expenses; and (B) to assume the responsibility to bear any loss that
may arise as the result of the exercise of authority under this subsection if the
real property is not made part of the urban renewal project;
(5) to invest any urban renewal project funds held in reserve or sinking funds or any
such funds not required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which
savings banks may legally invest funds subject to their control; to redeem such bonds
as have been issued pursuant to section 3214 of this title at the redemption price established therein or to purchase such bonds at less than
redemption price, all such bonds so redeemed or purchased to be cancelled;
(6) to borrow money and to apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions,
and any other form of financial assistance from the federal government, the State,
county, or other public body, or from any sources, public or private, for the purposes
of this chapter, and to give such security as may be required and to enter into and
carry out contracts in connection therewith. A municipality may include in any contract
for financial assistance with the federal government for an urban renewal project
such conditions imposed pursuant to federal laws as the municipality may deem reasonable
and appropriate and which are not inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter;
(7) within its area of operation, to make or have made all surveys and plans necessary
to the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter and to contract with any person,
public or private, in making and carrying out such plans and to adopt or approve,
modify, and amend such plans. Such plans may include: (A) a general plan for the
locality as a whole, (B) urban renewal plans, (C) preliminary plans outlining urban
renewal activities for neighborhoods to embrace two or more urban renewal areas, (D)
plans for carrying out a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation
of buildings and improvements, (E) plans for the enforcement of State and local laws,
codes, and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings
and improvements and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal
of buildings and improvements, (F) appraisals, title searches, surveys, studies, and
other plans and work necessary to prepare for the undertaking of urban renewal projects
and to develop, test, and report methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations
and other activities, for the prevention and the elimination of slums and urban blight
and developing and demonstrating new or improved means of providing housing for families
and persons of low income and to apply for, accept, and utilize grants of funds from
the federal government for such purposes;
(8) to prepare plans for and assist in the relocation of persons, including individuals,
families, business concerns, nonprofit organizations, and others, displaced from an
urban renewal area, and to make relocation payments to or with respect to such persons
for moving expenses and losses of property, including the making of such payments
financed by the federal government;
(9) to appropriate such funds and make such expenditures as may be necessary to carry
out the purposes of this chapter, and to levy taxes and assessments for such purposes;
to zone or rezone any part of the municipality or make exceptions from building regulations;
and to enter into agreements with a housing authority or an urban renewal agency vested
with urban renewal project powers under section 3219 of this title, which agreements may extend over any period, notwithstanding any provision or rule
of law to the contrary, respecting action to be taken by such municipality pursuant
to any of the powers granted by this chapter;
(10) to close, vacate, plan, or replan streets, roads, sidewalks, ways, or other places;
and to plan or replan any part of the municipality;
(11) within its area of operation, to organize, coordinate, and direct the administration
of the provisions of this chapter as they apply to such municipality in order that
the objective of remedying slum and blighted areas and preventing the causes thereof
within such municipality may be most effectively promoted and achieved, and to establish
such new office or offices of the municipality or to reorganize existing offices in
order to carry out such purpose most effectively; and
(12) to exercise all or any part or combination of powers herein granted. (Amended 1966, No. 69 (Sp. Sess.), § 6, eff. March 14, 1966.)