7-15-4206. Definitions. The following terms, wherever used or referred to in this part or part 43, shall have the following meanings unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
     (1) "Agency" or "urban renewal agency" shall mean a public agency created by 7-15-4232.
     (2) "Blighted area" shall mean an area which is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime; substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the city or its environs; retards the provision of housing accommodations; or constitutes an economic or social liability and/or is detrimental or constitutes a menace to the public health, safety, welfare, and morals in its present condition and use, by reason of:
     (a) the substantial physical dilapidation; deterioration; defective construction, material, and arrangement; and/or age obsolescence of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential;
     (b) inadequate provision for ventilation, light, proper sanitary facilities, or open spaces as determined by competent appraisers on the basis of an examination of the building standards of the municipality;
     (c) inappropriate or mixed uses of land or buildings;
     (d) high density of population and overcrowding;
     (e) defective or inadequate street layout;
     (f) faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness;
     (g) excessive land coverage;
     (h) unsanitary or unsafe conditions;
     (i) deterioration of site;
     (j) diversity of ownership;
     (k) tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land;
     (l) defective or unusual conditions of title;
     (m) improper subdivision or obsolete platting;
     (n) the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire or other causes; or
     (o) any combination of such factors.
     (3) "Bonds" shall mean any bonds, notes, or debentures (including refunding obligations) herein authorized to be issued.
     (4) "Clerk" shall mean the clerk or other official of the municipality who is the custodian of the official records of such municipality.
     (5) "Federal government" shall include the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.
     (6) "Local governing body" shall mean the council or other legislative body charged with governing the municipality.
     (7) "Mayor" shall mean the chief executive of a city or town.
     (8) "Municipality" shall mean any incorporated city or town in the state.
     (9) "Neighborhood development program" means the yearly activities or undertakings of a municipality in an urban renewal area or areas if the municipality shall elect to undertake activities on an annual increment basis.
     (10) "Obligee" shall include any bondholder or agent or trustee for any bondholder or lessor demising to the municipality property used in connection with an urban renewal project or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the municipality.
     (11) "Person" shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or school district and shall include any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.
     (12) "Public body" shall mean the state or any municipality, township, board, commission, district, or any other subdivision or public body of the state.
     (13) "Public officer" shall mean 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.
     (14) "Real property" shall include all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith and every estate, interest, right, and use, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.
     (15) "Redevelopment" may include:
     (a) acquisition of a blighted area or portion thereof;
     (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 in the area the urban renewal provisions of this part in accordance with the urban renewal plan; and
     (d) making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies (including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality itself) at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan.
     (16) "Rehabilitation" may include the restoration and renewal of a blighted area or portion thereof in accordance with an urban 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 thereon where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions; lessen density; reduce traffic hazards; eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare; 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 in the area the urban renewal provisions of this part; and
     (d) the disposition of any property acquired in such urban renewal area (including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality itself) at its fair value for uses in accordance with such urban renewal plan.
     (17) "Urban renewal area" means a blighted area which the local governing body designates as appropriate for an urban renewal project or projects.
     (18) "Urban renewal plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for one or more urban renewal areas or for an urban renewal project, which plan:
     (a) shall conform to the comprehensive plan or parts thereof for the municipality as a whole; and
     (b) shall be sufficiently complete to indicate, on a yearly basis or otherwise:
     (i) such land acquisition, demolition, and removal of structures; redevelopment; improvements; and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the urban renewal area;
     (ii) zoning and planning changes, if any;
     (iii) land uses, maximum densities, building requirements; and
     (iv) the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements.
     (19) "Urban renewal project" may include undertakings or activities of a municipality in an urban renewal area for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of blight and may involve redevelopment in an urban renewal area, rehabilitation or conservation in an urban renewal area, or any combination or part thereof in accordance with an urban renewal plan.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 195, L. 1959; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 210, L. 1969; R.C.M. 1947, 11-3901(part).