Section 2. Policy of state and purpose of chapter  


Latest version.
  • It is hereby declared
      that in certain areas of cities, towns and villages of the  state  there
      exist   insanitary   and   substandard   housing   conditions  owing  to
      overcrowding and concentration of  the  population,  improper  planning,
      excessive land coverage, lack of proper light, air and space, insanitary
      design  and  arrangement,  or  lack  of proper sanitary facilities; that
      these conditions are chiefly in areas where low rent  dwellings  prevail
      and  that  such  conditions  and  dwellings  are a menace to the health,
      safety, morals, welfare and reasonable comfort of the citizens  of  this
      state;  that  there  is  not  an  adequate supply of adequate, safe, and
      sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons of low income;  that  these
      conditions  cause  an  increase  and  spread  of  disease  and crime and
      constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals, welfare, and  comfort
      of  the citizens of the state; that these conditions inflict blight upon
      the economic value of large areas, impair private  investments  and  the
      source  of  public revenues; that these conditions cannot be remedied by
      the ordinary operation of  private  enterprise;  that  these  conditions
      require  that provision be made for the investment of public and private
      funds at low interest rates in low rent housing and the  acquisition  at
      fair  prices  of adequate parcels of property, the gradual demolition of
      existing insanitary and unsafe  housing  and  the  construction  of  new
      housing  facilities,  under  public  supervision  in  accord with proper
      standards of sanitation and safety and  at  a  cost  which  will  permit
      monthly  rentals  which  persons  of  low income can afford to pay; that
      loans and subsidies by the state and its subdivisions are necessary  for
      such  purposes;  that  the  clearance,  replanning,  reconstruction  and
      rehabilitation of substandard and insanitary areas or the  providing  of
      adequate,  safe  and  sanitary  low rent housing accommodations in these
      areas and elsewhere for persons and families of low income, or  both  of
      these,  are public uses and purposes for which public money may be spent
      and  private  property  acquired;  that  these  conditions  require  the
      creation  of  the agencies and instrumentalities hereinafter prescribed,
      which are declared to be agencies and instrumentalities of the state for
      the purpose of attaining the ends herein recited; and the  necessity  in
      the  public  interest  for  the provisions hereinafter enacted is hereby
      declared as a matter of legislative determination.