North Dakota Code 40-58-01.1 – Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 40-58-01.1
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- population: means the number of inhabitants as determined by the last preceding state or federal census. See North Dakota Code 1-01-47
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
1. “Area of operation” means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and the area within five miles [8.05 kilometers] of those limits, except that the term does not include any area that lies within the territorial boundaries of another incorporated city unless a resolution is adopted by the governing body of the other city declaring a need for the inclusion.
2. “Blighted area” means an area other than a slum area which by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slums, deteriorated or deteriorating structures, predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity of ownership, tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of these factors, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipality, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use. “Blighted area” does not include any land that has been assessed as agricultural property within the last ten years unless it was located within the interior boundaries of a city for at least ten years.
3. “Board” or “commission” means a board, commission, department, division, office, body, or other unit of the municipality.
4. “Bonds” means any bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures, or other obligations.
5. “Clerk” means the clerk or other official of a municipality who is the custodian of the official records of the municipality.
6. “Development” includes the construction of new buildings, structures, or improvements; the demolition, alteration, remodeling, repair, or reconstruction of existing buildings, structures, or improvements; the acquisition of equipment; and the clearing and grading of land on industrial or commercial property in a development or renewal area. However, for the purpose of determining amounts to be reimbursed by tax increments under section 40-58-20, only those eligible public costs of development enumerated under section 40-58-20.1 are reimbursable for that purpose.
7. “Development or renewal area” means industrial or commercial property, a slum or blighted area, or a combination of these properties or areas that the local governing body designates as appropriate for a development or renewal project.
8. “Development or renewal plan” means a plan for a development or renewal project which:
a. Conforms to the general plan for the municipality as a whole; and
b. Is sufficiently complete to indicate any land acquisition, development, demolition and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, or rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the development or renewal area, zoning and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building requirements, and the plan’s relationship to definite local objectives relating to appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements.
9. “Development or renewal project” may include authorized undertakings or activities of a municipality in a development or renewal area for the development of commercial or industrial property or for the elimination and prevention of the development or spread of slums and blight.
10. “Dwelling” means any building, or structure, or part of a building or structure used and occupied for human habitation or intended to be so used, and includes any appurtenances to the building or structure.
11. “Federal government” means the United States or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States.
12. “Governing body” means the city council, the board of city commissioners, or the board of township supervisors.
13. “Housing authority” means a housing authority created by and established pursuant to the housing authorities law.
14. “Industrial or commercial property” means unused or underutilized real property that is zoned or used as an industrial or commercial site.
15. “Mayor” means the mayor of a municipality or other officer or body having the duties customarily imposed upon the executive head of a municipality.
16. “Municipality” means any incorporated city in the state.
17. “Obligee” includes any bondholder, agents or trustees for any bondholder, or lessor demising to the municipality property used in connection with a development or renewal project, or any assignee or assignees of the lessor’s interest or any part thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the municipality.
18. “Person” means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, company, association, joint-stock association, or body politic and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.
19. “Public body” means the state or any municipality, township, board, commission, authority, district, or any other political subdivision or public body of the state.
20. “Public officer” means 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.
21. “Real property” includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures on the land, and property of any nature appurtenant to the land, or used in connection with the land, and every estate, interest, right and use, legal or equitable, in the land, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.
22. “Rehabilitation” or “conservation” includes the restoration and renewal of all or a part of a slum or blighted area, in accordance with a development or 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 on the real property if necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or 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 the purposes of this chapter.
d. The disposition of any property acquired in the development or renewal area, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality at its fair value for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan.
23. “Slum area” means an area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age or obsolescence, inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces, high density of population and overcrowding, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of these factors is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare.
24. “Slum clearance and redevelopment” may include:
a. Acquisition of all or part of a slum area or a blighted area. 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 the development or renewal plan.
d. Making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality at its fair value for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan.
25. “Urban renewal agency” means a public agency created pursuant to section 40-58-16.