TITLE 50

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS

CHAPTER 20

URBAN RENEWAL LAW

50-2007.  Powers. Every urban renewal agency shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this act, including the following powers in addition to others herein granted:

(a)  To undertake and carry out urban renewal projects and related activities within its area of operation; and to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers under this act; and to disseminate slum clearance and urban renewal information;

(b)  To provide or to arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair by any person or agency, public or private, of services, privileges, works, streets, roads, public utilities or other facilities for or in connection with an urban renewal project; to install, construct, and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, off-street parking facilities, public facilities, other buildings or public improvements; and any improvements necessary or incidental to a redevelopment project; and to agree to any conditions that it may deem reasonable and appropriate attached to federal financial assistance and imposed pursuant to federal law relating to the determination of prevailing salaries or wages or compliance with labor standards, in the undertaking or carrying out of an urban renewal project and related activities, and to include in any contract let in connection with such a project and related activities, provisions to fulfill such of said conditions as it may deem reasonable and appropriate;

(c)  Within its area of operation, to acquire by purchase, lease, option, gift, grant, bequest, devise, eminent domain or otherwise, any real property or personal property for its administrative purposes, together with any improvements thereon; to hold, improve, renovate, rehabilitate, clear or prepare for redevelopment any such property or buildings; to mortgage, pledge, hypothecate or otherwise encumber or dispose of any real property; to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or personal property or operations of the municipality against any risks or hazards, including the power to pay premiums on any such insurance; and to enter into any contracts necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act: Provided however, that no statutory provision with respect to the acquisition, clearance or disposition of property by public bodies shall restrict a municipality or other public body exercising powers hereunder in the exercise of such functions with respect to an urban renewal project and related activities, unless the legislature shall specifically so state;

(d)  With the approval of the local governing body, (1) prior to approval of an urban renewal plan, or approval of any modifications of the plan, to acquire real property in an urban renewal area, demolish and remove any structures on the property, and pay all costs related to the acquisition, demolition, or removal, including any administrative or relocation expenses; and (2) to assume the responsibility to bear any loss that may arise as the result of the exercise of authority under this subsection in the event that the real property is not made part of the urban renewal project;

(e)  To invest any urban renewal funds held in reserves or sinking funds or any such funds not required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest funds subject to their control; to redeem such bonds as have been issued pursuant to section 50-2012, Idaho Code, at the redemption price established therein or to purchase such bonds at less than redemption price, all such bonds so redeemed or purchased to be canceled;

(f)  To borrow money and to apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions and any other form of financial assistance from the federal government, the state, county, or other public body, or from any sources, public or private, for the purposes of this act, and to give such security as may be required and to enter into and carry out contracts or agreements in connection therewith; and to include in any contract for financial assistance with the federal government for or with respect to an urban renewal project and related activities such conditions imposed pursuant to federal laws as the municipality may deem reasonable and appropriate and which are not inconsistent with the purposes of this act;

(g)  Within its area of operation, to make or have made all surveys and plans necessary to the carrying out of the purposes of this act and to contract with any person, public or private, in making and carrying out such plans and to adopt or approve, modify and amend such plans, which plans may include, but are not limited to: (1) plans for carrying out a program of voluntary compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, (2) plans for the enforcement of state and local laws, codes and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and improvements, and (3) appraisals, title searches, surveys, studies, and other plans and work necessary to prepare for the undertaking of urban renewal projects and related activities; and to develop, test, and report methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other activities, for the prevention and the elimination of slums and urban blight and developing and demonstrating new or improved means of providing housing for families and persons of low income and to apply for, accept and utilize grants of funds from the federal government for such purposes;

(h)  To prepare plans for and assist in the relocation of persons, including individuals, families, business concerns, nonprofit organizations and others displaced from an urban renewal area, and notwithstanding any statute of this state to make relocation payments to or with respect to such persons for which reimbursement or compensation is not otherwise made, including the making of such payments financed by the federal government;

(i)  To exercise all or any part or combination of powers herein granted;

(j)  In addition to its powers under subsection (b) of this section, an agency may construct foundations, platforms, and other like structural forms necessary for the provision or utilization of air rights sites for buildings and to be used for residential, commercial, industrial, and other uses contemplated by the urban renewal plan, and to provide utilities to the development site; and

(k)  To use, lend or invest funds obtained from the federal government for the purposes of this act if allowable under federal laws or regulations.

History:

[50-2007, added 1965, ch. 246, sec. 7, p. 600; am. 1972, ch. 156, sec. 1, p. 344; am. 1987, ch. 259, sec. 1, p. 536; am. 2011, ch. 317, sec. 2, p. 912; am. 2013, ch. 63, sec. 1, p. 139.]