In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Area of operation" means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and
the area within five miles [8.05 kilometers] of those limits, except that the term does
not include any area that lies within the territorial boundaries of another incorporated
city unless a resolution is adopted by the governing body of the other city declaring a
need for the inclusion.
2. "Blighted area" means an area other than a slum area which by reason of the
presence of a substantial number of slums, deteriorated or deteriorating structures,
predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to
size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness, unsanitary 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, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of
conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any
combination of these 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. "Blighted area" does not include any land that
has been assessed as agricultural property within the last ten years unless it was
located within the interior boundaries of a city for at least ten years.
3. "Board" or "commission" means a board, commission, department, division, office,
body, or other unit of the municipality.
4. "Bonds" means any bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates,
certificates of indebtedness, debentures, or other obligations.
5. "Clerk" means the clerk or other official of a municipality who is the custodian of the
official records of the municipality.
6. "Development" includes the construction of new buildings, structures, or
improvements; the demolition, alteration, remodeling, repair, or reconstruction of
existing buildings, structures, or improvements; the acquisition of equipment; and the
clearing and grading of land on industrial or commercial property in a development or
renewal area. However, for the purpose of determining amounts to be reimbursed by
tax increments under section 40-58-20, only those eligible public costs of development
enumerated under section 40-58-20.1 are reimbursable for that purpose.
7. "Development or renewal area" means industrial or commercial property, a slum or
blighted area, or a combination of these properties or areas that the local governing
body designates as appropriate for a development or renewal project.
8. "Development or renewal plan" means a plan for a development or renewal project
which:
a. Conforms to the general plan for the municipality as a whole; and
b. Is sufficiently complete to indicate any land acquisition, development, demolition
and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, or rehabilitation as
may be proposed to be carried out in the development or renewal area, zoning
and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building
requirements, and the plan's relationship to definite local objectives relating to
appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities,
recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements.
9. "Development or renewal project" may include authorized undertakings or activities of
a municipality in a development or renewal area for the development of commercial or
industrial property or for the elimination and prevention of the development or spread
of slums and blight.
10. "Dwelling" means any building, or structure, or part of a building or structure used and
occupied for human habitation or intended to be so used, and includes any
appurtenances to the building or structure.
11. "Federal government" means the United States or any agency or instrumentality,
corporate or otherwise, of the United States.
12. "Governing body" means the city council, the board of city commissioners, or the
board of township supervisors.
13. "Housing authority" means a housing authority created by and established pursuant to
the housing authorities law.
14. "Industrial or commercial property" means unused or underutilized real property that is
zoned or used as an industrial or commercial site.
15. "Mayor" means the mayor of a municipality or other officer or body having the duties
customarily imposed upon the executive head of a municipality.
16. "Municipality" means any incorporated city in the state.
17. "Obligee" includes any bondholder, agents or trustees for any bondholder, or lessor
demising to the municipality property used in connection with a development or
renewal project, or any assignee or assignees of the lessor's interest or any part
thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the
municipality.
18. "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company,
company, association, joint-stock association, or body politic and includes any trustee,
receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.
19. "Public body" means the state or any municipality, township, board, commission,
authority, district, or any other political subdivision or public body of the state.
20. "Public officer" means 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.
21. "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures on the land,
and property of any nature appurtenant to the land, or used in connection with the
land, and every estate, interest, right and use, legal or equitable, in the land, including
terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.
22. "Rehabilitation" or "conservation" includes the restoration and renewal of all or a part
of a slum or blighted area, in accordance with a development or renewal plan, by:
a. Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and
rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements.
b. Acquisition of real property and demolition or removal of buildings and
improvements on the real property if necessary to eliminate unhealthful,
unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate
obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or to otherwise remove
or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed
public facilities.
c. Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds,
and other improvements necessary for carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
d. The disposition of any property acquired in the development or renewal area,
including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality at its fair value for
uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan.
23. "Slum area" means 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 these 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.
24. "Slum clearance and redevelopment" may include:
a. Acquisition of all or part of a slum area or a blighted area.
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 the development or renewal
plan.
d. Making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise
or public agencies, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality
at its fair value for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan.
25. "Urban renewal agency" means a public agency created pursuant to section 40-58-16.