§ 800 — Policy and purposes of article

§ 800. Policy and purposes of article. It is hereby declared and found\nthat there exists in municipalities in this state substandard and\ninsanitary areas and neighborhoods characterized by undermaintained and\ndeteriorating housing accommodations and under-utilized non-residential\nbuildings and under-utilized vacant land. It is further found that there\nexists in such municipalities a diminishing and seriously inadequate\nsupply of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations, particularly for\npersons of low income; that the loss of housing accommodations is caused\nby the inability of the ordinary unaided operations of private\nenterprise to make loans for rehabilitation or construction purposes or\nfor conversion which accelerates the process of deterioration and\nabandonment, turning active and viable neighborhoods into slums and\nblighted areas; and that the prevention of deterioration and loss\nthrough abandonment can only be achieved by the elimination of\nconditions which are unsafe or detrimental to health, the replacement of\nantiquated heating, plumbing, and electrical systems and, where\nnecessary, the overall rehabilitation of certain housing accommodations,\nthe construction of new housing accommodations on vacant land and the\nconversion of under-utilized non-residential property to residential\nuse, and that the unavailability of funds for the conversion of\nunder-utilized property to residential use, for the preservation and\nrehabilitation of housing accommodations and for the construction of new\nhousing accommodations on vacant land constitutes a threat to the\nhealth, safety and well-being of the persons who occupy them and denies\nto others the possibility of living in safe and sanitary housing\naccommodations.\n In order to promote the preservation and rehabilitation of such\nhousing accommodations, the creation of new housing accommodations by\nthe conversion of under-utilized non-residential property into multiple\ndwellings and the construction of new housing accommodations on vacant\nland in such areas and to encourage the investment of private capital in\nsuch areas, provision should be made for a municipality to attract\nprivate investment for such purposes by utilizing funds, which are\navailable from the federal government through specific or discretionary\ngrants, or are available from other financing sources, for joint\nparticipation loans with private investors, or loans or grants by the\nmunicipality, to effect the required construction, rehabilitation or\nconversion.\n The necessity in the public interest for the provisions hereinafter\nenacted is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination.\n