Alanel Corp. v. Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission

154 N.E.2d 515, 239 Ind. 35, 1958 Ind. LEXIS 162
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 12, 1958
Docket29,704
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 154 N.E.2d 515 (Alanel Corp. v. Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alanel Corp. v. Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission, 154 N.E.2d 515, 239 Ind. 35, 1958 Ind. LEXIS 162 (Ind. 1958).

Opinions

Bobbitt, J.

Appellant, Alanel Corporation, brought this action, for itself and on behalf of all others similarly situated, seeking to enjoin appellees from proceeding under ch. 276 of the Acts of 1945, and ch. 170 of the Acts of 1957, being §§48-8501, et seq., Bums’ 1950 Replacement, to condemn appellant’s property, issue bonds, to pay acquisition costs, and levy taxes to pay the principal and interest on such bonds.

The complaint alleges that the Redevelopment Act of 1945 and the 1957 Supplementary Act are unconsti[39]*39tutional under Art. 1, §1, Art. 1, §21, Art. 13, §1, Art. 11, §13, and Art. 4, §19 of the Constitution of Indiana and the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. These allegations present the only questions for our determination.

The different questions raised and discussed in appellant’s brief will be considered in the same order as there presented.

Section 2 of the 1945 Act declares the public policy in pertinent part to be that the housing accommodations in blighted areas are, to a large extent, unsanitary and unsafe, and that the use of the same causes an increase in and spread of disease and crime, constituting a menace to the health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the larger cities in this State; that the conditions existing in such areas necessitate excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety; that the clearance, replanning and redevelopment of such blighted areas is a public and governmental function which cannot be accomplished through the ordinary operations of private enterprise, due to the necessity for the exercise of the power of eminent domain; that the clearance, replanning and redevelopment of such areas will benefit the health, safety, morals and welfare of the cities in which such blighted areas exist and the State of Indiana; and that the clearance, replanning and redevelopment of such blighted areas are public uses and purposes for which public money may be spent and private property acquired.

Section 3 of the 1945 Act defines a blighted area as “any area within the corporate limits of a city to which this act is applicable, or in unincorporated territory within one thousand [1,000] feet of such cor[40]*40porated limits, which because of lack of development, cessation of growth, deterioration of improvements or character of occupancy, age, obsolescence, substandard buildings or other factors which have impaired values or prevent a normal development of property, or use thereof, has become under current conditions undesirable for or impossible of normal development and occupancy.”

Sections 11 and 12 of the 1945 Act and §1 of the 1957 Act empower the Development Commission to study, investigate, select and acquire such areas within the Eedevelopment District as such Commission may determine to be blighted and cannot be corrected by regulatory processes or by the ordinary operations of private enterprise.

Section 1 of the 1957 Act further provides that the Eedevelopment Commission created and operating under the Eedevelopment Act of 1945 shall be authorized to plan and undertake, alone or in conjunction with other departments of the city, “projects for rehabilitating, preventing the spread of or eliminating slums, blighted, deteriorated or deteriorating areas, both residential and nonresidential, which projects may include the repair or rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements by the commission, owners or tenants, the acquisition of real property, the demolition and removal of buildings or improvements on buildings acquired by the commission where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to public welfare, . . .”

On October 2, 1957, the Eedevelopment Commission of Indianapolis adopted a declaratory resolution, in pertinent part, as follows:

[41]*41“WHEREAS, the Commission has made investigations, studies and surveys of various blighted areas within the City of Indianapolis, Indiana, and of the costs contributing to the blighting of such areas; and
“WHEREAS, such investigations, studies and surveys have been made in cooperation with the various departments and bodies of the City and have been directed to determining the proper use of land so as to best serve the interests of the City and its inhabitants, both from the standpoint of human and economic values, and as a result of such investigations, studies and surveys the Commission has heretofore found that the area hereinafter described has become blighted to such an extent that such conditions cannot be corrected by regulatory process or by the ordinary operations of private enterprise without resort to the provisions of the Redevelopment Act of 1945, as supplemented by Chapter 170 of the Acts of 1957, and that the public health and welfare would be benefited by the acquisition and redevelopment of such area under the provisions of said acts; and
“WHEREAS, the Commission now finds that the area hereinafter described is one in which: (a) the buildings are used in part as dwelling accommodations and in part for commercial purposes; (b) the housing accommodations are to a large extent unsanitary and unsafe, and the use of the same causes an increase and spread in disease and crime; (c) the buildings used for commercial purposes are to a large extent unsanitary and unsafe; (d) the conditions existing in said area necessitate excessive and disportionate [disproportionate] expenditure of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection, and other public services and facilities of the City, and impair the value of property in surrounding areas; (e) the existing conditions result in the reduction of the value of taxable property within the City; (f) the conditions are beyond remedy and control by regulatory process because of the obsolete and deteriorated character of the buildings and other improvements, faulty planning and land use, shifting of population and [42]*42technological and social changes; (g) the acquisition and redevelopment of said area in accordance with the general plan hereinafter referred to will benefit the health, safety, morals and welfare, and will serve to protect and increase property values in the City and the State; (h) such acquisition and redevelopment of said area are public uses and purposes; and
“BE IT RESOLVED by the Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission that the area which- is bounded and described as follows:
“(Here describing real estate to be taken); is hereby found and declared to be a blighted area within the meaning of the Redevelopment Act of 1945, as supplemented by Chapter 170 of the Acts of 1957; that said blighted area constitutes a menace to the social and economic interests of the City and its inhabitants, and it will be of public utility and benefit to acquire. such area and to redevelop the same under the provisions of said acts.”

The area which the Commission proposes to acquire consists- of eight acres and, including appellant’s property, is presently devoted 60% to commercial use and 40% to residential use.

Appellant does not contend that its land is not within a planned area as defined in the Act.

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Bluebook (online)
154 N.E.2d 515, 239 Ind. 35, 1958 Ind. LEXIS 162, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alanel-corp-v-indianapolis-redevelopment-commission-ind-1958.