§ 11-A — Additional policy and purposes of article

New York § 11-A

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PVH: Private Housing Finance
• Art. 2: Limited-profit Housing Companies

Text

§ 11-a. Additional policy and purposes of article. 1. It is hereby\ndeclared that the elimination of conditions causing a deterioration of\nthe quality of urban life in municipalities of the State and the\nrevitalization and improvement of the quality of urban life in such\nmunicipalities through comprehensive programs and projects constituting\na total attack upon such conditions are the most critical problems\nfacing the municipalities, the state and the federal government, and are\nvital to the health, well-being, safety and prosperity of the\ninhabitants of the municipalities and the people of the state. Neither\nthe municipalities nor the state have adequate resources to undertake,\ndevelop and operate the comprehensive programs and projects necessary\nfor the accomplishment of such purposes. The ordinary operations of\nprivate enterprise cannot rectify such conditions or accomplish such\npurposes. The elimination of such conditions and accomplishment of such\npurposes require the participation and cooperation of the\nmunicipalities, the State, the Federal government, private enterprise,\ninstitutions of higher learning, community and civic groups, fraternal\nand labor organizations, foundations, and all other responsible\ncomponents of the community.\n 2. Among the conditions causing such deterioration are: the residence\nof large numbers of families, adults and children in slum ghettos;\ninsanitary and inadequate housing or other physical environment; a\nsevere shortage of decent healthful housing accommodations to meet the\nneeds of large numbers of families, adults and children; economic,\neducational or community imbalance resulting from excessive migration of\neconomic or other groups to or from communities; depletion of job or\nbusiness opportunities because of migration of business and industry\nfrom communities; and the existence of physical, social, and economic\nblight and crime. Such conditions create and perpetuate slum ghettos,\nblight and crime, cause a progressive deterioration of the quality of\nurban life for all persons in the municipalities and the State, render\nor tend to render the municipalities undesirable places in which to\nlive, work and raise families, impair the sound economic, cultural and\nsocial growth of municipalities and communities thereof, break down the\nability of municipalities or communities thereof to grow, expand,\ndevelop or continue as viable municipalities or communities, and\nthreaten the life, health, well-being, safety and prosperity of all\npersons in municipalities and the people of the State.\n 2-a. It is hereby found that improvement of the physical environment\nand revitalization of the quality of urban life in such municipalities\nwould be promoted by cooperative action by tenants who are persons or\nfamilies of low income to acquire ownership of their dwellings and to\noperate them on a nonprofit basis; that such cooperative undertakings,\nwith their consequent pride and responsibility of ownership, would help\nto stem the abandonment of deteriorating but structually sound\nbuildings, which contributes to a substantial loss of much needed\nhousing stock, and would lead to the stabilization and renewal of\ndeteriorating neighborhoods. It is found necessary, in order to assure\nthe feasibility of such cooperative undertakings, to make available to\nsuch tenants long-term financing on a favorable basis and tax exemption\nto enable them to purchase and maintain their dwellings at a reasonable\ncost.\n 3. The rehabilitation or redevelopment of slum ghettos and other areas\ninto sound healthy balanced viable communities, the enhancement of the\nphysical environment, health, and social well-being of the inhabitants\nand the expansion of their social and economic opportunity require among\nother measures the attraction to the neighborhoods of varying economic\nclasses in addition to persons of low income and the availability\ntherein of a wide choice of housing from the standpoint of design and\namenities.\n 4. It is hereby further found that there are certain parts of\nmunicipalities where conditions of blight are so extensive in area that,\nnotwithstanding a continued shortage of safe and sanitary dwelling\naccommodations in the municipality for low and middle income families,\nit is not economic for private enterprise to build limited profit\nhousing in such areas since it cannot supply proper housing at prices\nwithin the economic reach of low-income families in such blighted areas\nor attract tenants or buyers from other areas by offering rents and\nprices which are competitive with rents and prices of housing in areas\nof the municipality which are not blighted. It is found that there are\nother locations in such municipalities where housing development is\ndesirable for sound community growth, but, similarly, where private\nenterprise cannot build limited profit housing which is within the\neconomic reach of persons in the area who require such housing.\n 5. It is the purpose of this article to enable municipalities to\nundertake projects directly or in combination with the Federal\ngovernment, private enterprise and any of the other responsible\ncomponents of the community, to accomplish the public purposes herein\ndescribed through the most effective and economical concentration and\ncoordination of Federal, State, local and private resources and efforts.\n 6. It is hereby further found and determined that the accomplishment\nof the purposes herein described is a matter of public concern, a\ngovernmental purpose, a city, town, and village purpose, and a public\npurpose and a public use for the accomplishment of which (a) the money\nand property of a city, town or village, may be given, loaned or\nexpended, (b) indebtedness may be contracted by a city, town or village,\nand (c) eminent domain exercised by a city, town or village, as\nhereinafter provided.\n