Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4502 – Declaration of necessity
It is found and declared that there exist in localities throughout the State slum and blighted areas (as defined in § 4501 of this title) which constitute a serious and growing menace, injurious and inimical to the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the State; that the existence of such areas contributes substantially and increasingly to the spread of disease and crime, necessitating excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for the preservation of the public health and safety, for crime prevention, correction, prosecution, punishment and the treatment of juvenile delinquency and for the maintenance of adequate police, fire and accident protection and other public services and facilities, constitutes an economic and social liability, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of communities and retards the provision of housing accommodations; that this menace is beyond remedy and control solely by regulatory process in the exercise of the police power and cannot be dealt with effectively by the ordinary operations of private enterprise without the aids provided in this chapter; that the elimination of slum conditions or conditions of blight, the acquisition and preparation of land in or necessary to the development of slum or blighted areas and its sale or lease for development or redevelopment in accordance with general plans and redevelopment plans of communities and any assistance which may be given by any state public body in connection therewith are public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and private property acquired; and that the necessity in the public interest for the provisions enacted in this chapter is declared as a matter of legislative determination.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4502
- Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
- Community: means any municipality or county in this State. See Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4501
- Conservation: means the preservation of an area or section of a community, and the supervision and care of such area or section, to prevent the recurrence or spread of slum conditions or conditions of blight. See Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4501
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Municipality: means any incorporated city or town in this State. See Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4501
- Public body: means the State or any municipality, county, township, board, commission, authority, district or any other subdivision or public body of this State. See Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4501
- Rehabilitation: means the reconstruction, alteration or repair of improvements, structures and buildings in accordance with the requirements of the municipality or community in its codes, laws or regulations pertaining to building, fire prevention, health, housing, and zoning, and also the use of land, and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements. See Delaware Code Title 31 Sec. 4501
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
It is found and declared that:
(1) There exists in communities of this State blighted and deteriorated areas which constitute a serious and growing menace, injurious to the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the State, and the findings and declarations made in this section prior to December 27, 1965, are affirmed and restated,
(2) Certain blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas, or portions thereof, may require acquisition and clearance, as provided in this chapter, since the prevailing condition of decay may make impracticable the reclamation of the area by conservation or rehabilitation, but other areas or portions thereof may, through the means provided in this chapter, be susceptible of conservation or rehabilitation in such a manner that the conditions and evils enumerated in this section may be eliminated, remedied or prevented, and to the extent feasible, salvable blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas should be conserved and rehabilitated through voluntary action and the regulatory process, and
(3) All powers conferred by this chapter, as amended, are for public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and such other powers exercised, and the necessity in the public interest for the provisions of this chapter is declared as a matter of legislative determination.
A municipality or community to the greatest extent it determines to be feasible in carrying out the provisions of this chapter shall afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the municipality or community as a whole, to the conservation or rehabilitation or redevelopment of areas by private enterprise.
48 Del. Laws, c. 345, § ?2; 31 Del. C. 1953, § ?4502; 55 Del. Laws, c. 292, § ?7;