2017 -- H 6367

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LC002952

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND PROJECTS

     Introduced By: Representatives Messier, Coughlin, Johnston, Tobon, and Barros

     Date Introduced: June 27, 2017

     Referred To: House Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 45-31-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-31 entitled

"Redevelopment Agencies" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     45-31-8. Definitions.

     The following definitions and general provisions govern the construction of chapters 31 -

- 33 of this title:

     (1) "Agency" means a redevelopment agency created by this chapter.

     (2) "Arrested blighted area" means any area which, by reason of the existence of physical

conditions including, but not by way of limitation, the existence of unsuitable soil conditions, the

existence of dumping or other unsanitary or unsafe conditions, the existence of ledge or rock, the

necessity of unduly expensive excavation, fill or grading, or the necessity of undertaking unduly

expensive measures for the drainage of the area or for the prevention of flooding or for making

the area appropriate for sound development, or by reason of obsolete, inappropriate, or otherwise

faulty platting or subdivision, deterioration of site improvements, inadequacy of utilities, diversity

of ownership of plots, or tax delinquencies, or by reason of any combination of any of the

foregoing conditions, is unduly costly to develop soundly through the ordinary operations of

private enterprise and impairs the sound growth of the community.

     (3) "Blighted and substandard area" includes a "slum blighted area", a "deteriorated

blighted area", or an "arrested blighted area", or any combination of these areas. "Blighted and

substandard area" shall also include those areas where the presence of hazardous materials, as

defined in § 23-19.14-2, impairs the use, reuse, or redevelopment of impacted sites.

     (4) "Bonds of agency" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates, debentures, or other

obligations issued by an agency pursuant to §§ 45-33-5 -- 45-33-15.

     (5) "Community" means a city or town.

     (6) "Deteriorated blighted area" means any area in which there exist buildings or

improvements, either used or intended to be used for living, commercial, industrial, or other

purposes, or any combination of these uses, which by reason of:

     (i) Dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence;

     (ii) Inadequate provision for ventilation, light, sanitation, open spaces, and recreation

facilities;

     (iii) High density of population and overcrowding,

     (iv) Defective design or unsanitary or unsafe character or conditions of physical

construction;

     (v) Defective or inadequate street and lot layout; and

     (vi) Mixed character, shifting, or deterioration of uses to which they are put, or any

combination of these factors and characteristics, are conducive to the further deterioration and

decline of the area to the point where it may become a slum blighted area as defined in

subdivision (18), and are detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the

inhabitants of the community and of the state generally. A deteriorated blighted area need not be

restricted to, or consist entirely of, lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are

detrimental or inimical to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, but may consist of an area

in which these conditions exist and injuriously affect the entire area.

     (7) "Federal government" means the United States of America or any agency or

instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

     (8) "Legislative body" means the city council or town council.

     (9) "Obligee of the agency" or "obligee" include any bondholder, trustee or trustees for

any bondholder, or lessor demising to the agency property used in connection with a

redevelopment project or any assignee or assignees of that lessor, and the federal government.

     (10) "Planning commission" or "commission" means a planning commission or other

planning agency established under any state law or created by or pursuant to the charter of the

community.

     (11) "Project area" means all or any portion of a redevelopment area. A project area may

include lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are not detrimental or inimical to

the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, but whose inclusion is necessary, with or without

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change in their conditions or ownership, for the effective redevelopment of the area of which they

are a part.

     (12) "Public hearing" means a hearing before a legislative body or before any committee

of the legislative body to which the matter to be heard has been referred.

     (13) "Real property" means lands, including lands underwater and waterfront property,

buildings, structures, fixtures, and improvements to the lands, and every estate, interest, privilege,

easement, franchise and right, legal or equitable, including rights of way, terms for years and

liens, charges or encumbrances by way of judgment, attachment, mortgage, or otherwise, and the

indebtedness secured by liens.

     (14) "Redevelopment" means the elimination and prevention of the spread of blighted

and substandard areas. Redevelopment may include the planning, replanning, acquisition,

construction, rehabilitation, improvement, furnishing, equipping, clearance, sale, lease, or other

disposition, or any combination of these, of land, buildings, or other improvements (even though

such land, buildings or other improvements are not blighted or substandard, provided that such

land, buildings or other improvements are in a redevelopment area) for residential, recreational,

commercial, industrial, institutional, public, or other purposes, including the provision of streets,

utilities, recreational areas, and other infrastructure and other open spaces consistent with the

needs of sound community growth in accordance with the community's general plan and carrying

out plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements,

and may include such other acts within a redevelopment area permitted pursuant to chapters 31

through 33, inclusive, of this title as determined by the legislative body to be consistent with the

purposes of chapters 31 through 33, inclusive, of this title.

     (15) "Redevelopment area" means any area of a community which its legislative body

finds is a blighted and substandard an area whose redevelopment is necessary to effectuate the

public purposes declared in this chapter.

     (16) "Redevelopment plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for a

redevelopment project, which:

     (i) Conforms to the general plan for the community as a whole; and

     (ii) Is sufficiently complete to indicate land acquisition, demolition and removal of

structures, redevelopment, improvements, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out

in the project area, zoning and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building

requirements, and 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.

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     (17) "Redevelopment project" means any work or undertaking of an agency pursuant to

chapters 31 -- 33 of this title.

     (18) "Slum blighted area" means any area in which there is a predominance of buildings

or improvements, either used or intended to be used for living, commercial, industrial, or other

purposes, or any combination of these uses, which by reason of: (i) dilapidation, deterioration,

age, or obsolescence; (ii) inadequate provision for ventilation, light, sanitation, open spaces, and

recreation facilities; (iii) high density of population and overcrowding; (iv) defective design or

unsanitary or unsafe character or condition of physical construction; (v) defective or inadequate

street and lot layout; and (vi) mixed character or shifting of uses to which they are put, or any

combination of these factors and characteristics, are conducive to ill health, transmission of

disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime; injuriously affect the entire area and

constitute a menace to the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the inhabitants of the

community and of the state generally. A slum blighted area need not be restricted to, or consist

entirely of, lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are detrimental or inimical to

the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, but may consist of an area in which these conditions

predominate and injuriously affect the entire area.

     (19) "State government" means the state of Rhode Island, or any agency or

instrumentality of the state, corporate or otherwise.

     (20) "State public body" means the state, or any city or town or any other subdivision or

public body of the state or of any city or town.

     SECTION 2. Section 45-32-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-32 entitled

"Redevelopment Projects" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     45-32-5. Corporate powers of agencies.

     (a) Each redevelopment agency constitutes a public body, corporate and politic,

exercising public and essential governmental functions, and has all the powers necessary and

convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of chapters 31 -- 33 of this

title, including the powers enumerated in this section in addition to others granted by these

chapters:

     (1) To sue and be sued; to borrow money; to compromise and settle claims; to have a

seal; and to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the

exercise of its powers.

     (2) To make, and, from time to time, amend and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations,

consistent with chapters 31 -- 33 of this title, to carry into effect the powers and purposes of these

chapters.

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     (3) To select and appoint officers, agents, counsel, and employees, permanent and

temporary, as it may require, and determine their qualifications, duties, and compensation.

     (4) Within the redevelopment area or for purposes of redevelopment: to purchase, lease,

obtain an option upon, acquire by gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise, any real or personal

property, or any estate or interest in it, together with any improvements on it; to acquire by the

exercise of the power of eminent domain any real property or any estate or interest in it, although

temporarily not required to achieve the purposes of chapters 31 -- 33 of this title; to clear,

demolish, or remove any and all buildings, structures, or other improvements from any real

property so acquired; to rehabilitate or otherwise improve any or all substandard buildings,

structures, or other improvements; to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or personal

property or operations of the agency against risk or hazard; and to rent, maintain, rehabilitate,

improve, manage, operate, repair, and clear the property.

     (5) To develop as a building site or sites any real property owned or acquired by it.

     (6) To cause streets and highways to be laid out and graded, and pavements or other road

surfacing, sidewalks, and curbs, public utilities of every kind, parks, playgrounds, and other

recreational areas, off street parking areas and other public improvements to be constructed and

installed.

     (7) To prepare or have prepared all plans necessary for the redevelopment of blighted and

substandard areas; with the consent and approval of the community planning commission, to

carry on and perform, for and on behalf of the commission, all or any part of the planning

activities and functions within the community; to undertake and perform, for the community,

industrial, commercial, and family relocation services; to obtain appraisals and title searches; to

make investigations, studies, and surveys of physical, economic, and social conditions and trends

pertaining to a community; to develop, test, and report methods and techniques and carry out

research and other activities for the prevention and the elimination of blighted and substandard

conditions and to apply for, accept, and utilize grants of funds from the federal government and

other sources for those purposes; and to enter upon any building or property in any

redevelopment area in order to make investigations, studies, and surveys, and, in the event entry

is denied or resisted, an agency may petition the superior court in and for the county in which the

land lies for an order for this purpose. Upon the filing of a petition, due notice of it shall be served

on the person denying or resisting entry, and after a hearing on the petition, the court shall enter

an order granting or denying the petition.

     (8) To undertake technical assistance to property owners and other private persons to

encourage, implement, and facilitate voluntary improvement of real property.

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     (9) To undertake and carry out code enforcement projects pursuant to the provisions of

appropriate federal legislation.

     (10) To invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds or any funds not required for

immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest

funds subject to their control; and to purchase its bonds at a price not more than the principal

amount and accrued interest, all bonds so purchased to be cancelled.

     (11) To lend money, and to sell, lease, exchange, subdivide, transfer, assign, pledge,

encumber (by mortgage, deed of trust, or otherwise), or otherwise dispose of any real or personal

property or any estate or interest in it acquired under the provisions of chapters 31 -- 33 of this

title, to the United States, the state government, any state public body, or any private corporation,

firm, or individual at its fair value for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan,

irrespective of the cost of acquiring and preparing the property for redevelopment. In determining

the fair value of the property for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan, the agency shall

take into account, and give consideration to, the uses and purposes required by the plan, the

restrictions upon, and the obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee of the property, and the

objectives of the redevelopment plan for the prevention of the recurrence of blighted and

substandard conditions. Any lease or sale of the property may be made without public bidding

provided, that no sale or lease is made until at least ten (10) days after the legislative body of the

community has received from the agency a report concerning the proposed sale or lease.

     (12) To obligate the purchaser or lessee of any real or personal property or any estate or

interest in it to:

     (i) Use the property only for the purpose and in the manner stated in the redevelopment

plan;

     (ii) Begin and complete the construction or rehabilitation of any structure or improvement

within a period of time which the agency fixes as reasonable; and

     (iii) Comply with other conditions that in the opinion of the agency are necessary to

prevent the recurrence of blighted and substandard conditions and otherwise to carry out the

purposes of chapters 31 -- 33 of this title. The agency, by contractual provisions, may make any

of the purchasers' or lessees' obligations, covenants, or conditions running with the land, and may

provide that, upon breach thereof, the fee reverts to the agency.

     (13) To exercise all or any part or combination of the powers granted in this chapter.

     (b)(14) Nothing contained in this chapter authorizes an agency to To construct any new

buildings for residential, recreational, commercial, or industrial, institutional, public or other uses

contemplated by the redevelopment plan.

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     (15) To grant or loan any redevelopment project revenues, or other revenues, including

the proceeds of any issue of bonds or notes issued pursuant to this chapter to an individual or any

nonprofit organization or governmental or quasi-governmental entity or private enterprise, in

order to finance the cost of any portion of a redevelopment project authorized pursuant to

chapters 31 through 33 of this title, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the

cost of acquiring land for, and constructing or rehabilitating, furnishing and equipping residential,

commercial, industrial, institutional, public, or recreational facilities, within a redevelopment

area, or to loan bond or note proceeds in order to refinance any such loans.

     (c)(b) Nothing contained in this chapter authorizes an agency to retain for a period in

excess of five (5) years from the date of acquisition, or within another additional period of time

that the legislative body fixes as reasonable, the fee or any estate or interest in it to any building,

structure, or other improvement, not demolished or otherwise removed, which has been acquired

by the agency in accordance with the redevelopment plan.

     SECTION 3. The provisions of this act are severable, and if any of its provisions are held

unconstitutional or invalid for any reason by any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision of

the court shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions.

     SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND PROJECTS

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     This act would permit redevelopment agencies to finance the construction of projects for

residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, institutional, public, or other purposes

contemplated by a redevelopment plan.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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