§ 201. Legislative finding, policy of state, and purpose of article.
It is hereby declared that in the cities of the state substandard and
insanitary areas exist which have resulted from inadequate planning,
excessive land coverage, lack of proper light, air and open space,
defective design and arrangement of buildings, lack of proper sanitary
facilities, and the existence of buildings, which, by reason of age,
obsolescence, inadequate or outmoded design, or physical deterioration
have become economic or social liabilities, or both; that such
conditions are prevalent in areas where substandard, insanitary, outworn
or outmoded industrial, commercial or residential buildings prevail;
that such conditions impair the economic value of large areas, infecting
them with economic blight, and that such areas are characterized by
depreciated values, impaired investments, and reduced capacity to pay
taxes; that such conditions are chiefly in areas which are so subdivided
into small parcels in divided ownerships and frequently with defective
titles, that their assembly for purposes of clearance, replanning,
rehabilitation and reconstruction is difficult and costly; that the
existence of such conditions and the failure to clear, replan,
rehabilitate or reconstruct these areas results in a loss of population
by the areas and further deterioration, accompanied by added costs to
the communities for creation of new public facilities and services
elsewhere; that it is difficult and uneconomic for individual owners
independently to undertake to remedy such conditions; that it is
desirable to encourage owners of property or holders of claims thereon
in such areas to join together and with outsiders in corporate groups
for the purpose of the clearance, replanning, rehabilitation and
reconstruction of such areas by joint action; that it is necessary to
create, with proper safeguards, inducements and opportunities for the
employment of private investment and equity capital in the clearance,
replanning, rehabilitation and reconstruction of such areas; that such
conditions require the employment of such capital on an investment
rather than a speculative basis, allowing however, the widest latitude
in the amortization of any indebtedness created thereby; that such
conditions further require the acquisition at fair prices of adequate
areas, the gradual clearance of such areas through demolition of
existing obsolete, inadequate, unsafe and insanitary buildings and the
redevelopment of such areas under proper supervision with appropriate
planning, land use and construction policies; that the clearance,
replanning, rehabilitation and reconstruction of such areas on a large
scale basis are necessary for the public welfare; that the clearance,
replanning, reconstruction and rehabilitation of such areas are public
uses and purposes for which private property may be acquired; that such
substandard and insanitary areas constitute a menace to the health,
safety, morals, welfare and reasonable comfort of the citizens of the
state; that such conditions require the creation of the agencies,
instrumentalities and corporations hereinafter described, which are
hereby declared to be agencies and instrumentalities of the state, for
the purpose of attaining the ends herein recited; that the protection
and promotion of the health, safety, morals, welfare and reasonable
comfort of the citizens of the state are matters of public concern; and
the necessity in the public interest for the provisions hereinafter
enacted is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination.