§ 14-1201. Findings and Purpose.

   (1)   Legislative Findings. The Council finds that:

      (a)   The acquisition of land for public purposes is a time consuming and expensive process;

      (b)   Knowledge that the City is in the process of acquiring a property can result in a property owner seeking to artificially inflate the value of that property by obtaining permits to expand businesses within a building, to add new units in a building or to extend or improve the buildings;

      (c)   The unregulated issuance of permits with or without actual improvements to the property may result in an increased value being placed on the property being sought by the City;

      (d)   The creation of new residential units within a building after it is designated for acquisition and the sale or lease of these units to new residents can result in unnecessary hardship for the residents and additional acquisition and relocation costs for the City;

      (e)   The Council has the duty and the responsibility to acquire land at a price that is a fair market value price and is responsible to the citizens of the City;

      (f)   Council also has a responsibility to property owners to pay a fair market value price based on the use of the property at the time it was designated for acquisition.

   (2)   Statement of Purpose.

      (a)   The purpose of this Chapter is to allow for the continued lawful use of a property once it has been designated for acquisition by the City, or by a public agency acting on behalf of the City while not allowing for a change of use of the property from the use for which a valid use registration permit has been obtained prior to its designation as a Pending Public Acquisition District.

      (b)   It is also the purpose of this Chapter to allow for the continued lawful use of a property once it has been designated for acquisition by the City, or by a public agency acting on behalf of itself or the City, while not allowing for any construction on vacant land or expansion or improvement of any building existing on the property prior to its designation as a Pending Public Acquisition District.

      (c)   The designation of an individual property or of an area of the City as a Pending Public Acquisition District shall be in addition to its Zoning District at the time of its designation as part of a Pending Public Acquisition District.

      (d)   It is intended that the designation of an area as a Pending Public Acquisition District shall exist for two years from the date of enactment to allow for completion of the legal acquisition of the property(ies) by the City or by a public agency acting on behalf of itself or the City.