The following terms, wherever used or referred to in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
(a) "Department of Economic and Community Development" or "local public agency" means the City of Toledo.
(b) "Local governing body" means Council.
(c) "Mayor" means the chief administrative officer of the city.
(d) "Clerk" means the Clerk of Toledo City Council.
(e) "Federal Government" includes the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.
(f) "Deteriorated area" means an area which is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare in that it contains a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which are conducive to ill health or infant mortality or juvenile delinquency or crime or economic degeneracy or social deterioration by reason of some or all of the following factors:
(1) Dilapidation;
(2) Age;
(3) Obsolescence of building types;
(4) Inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation or open spaces;
(5) High density of population and overcrowding of structures;
(6) Building defects which are either not remediable individually or collectively by substantial maintenance or repair, or which are not likely to be so remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon;
(7) Defects relating to inadequate or unsafe plumbing, heating or electrical facilities which are either not remediable individually or collectively by substantial maintenance or repair, or which are not likely to be so remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon; or
(8) Improper location of structures.
(g) "Blighted area" means an area not yet deteriorated in which some or all of the following conditions are present:
(1) A substantial number of deteriorated structures such as, but not limited to:
A. Buildings having defects not correctable by ordinary maintenance and repairs; or
B. Buildings having extensive minor defects collectively having a deteriorating effect on the surrounding area; or
C. Buildings having inadequate construction or alterations which have a deteriorating effect on the viability of the area for residential or commercial use; or
D. Buildings having endemically unsafe plumbing, or electrical facilities.
(2) A predominance of defective or inadequate street layouts leading to congestion, traffic hazards or other unsafe conditions;
(3) Faulty lot layout in relation to the size, adequacy, accessibility or potential usefulness of the land or premises thereon;
(4) Unsanitary or unsafe conditions on the land or premises thereon which are not remediable by ordinary repair or maintenance or which are not likely to be remedied given the present and reasonably foreseeable use of such land or the premises thereon;
(5) Substantially decreased tax values or fair market values of the land;
(6) Defective or unusual conditions of title impairing future improvement or development of the area;
(7) Improper or inappropriate subdivision or obsolete platting of the area;
(8) The existence of conditions which impede the community's ability to generate or preserve jobs and employment opportunities and to improve the economic welfare of the people of the community;
(9) The existence of conditions which lead to the reasonable conclusion that life or property is endangered by the possibility of fire, disease or other such causes resulting therefrom;
(10) Endemic conditions which impede the provision of safe, decent housing accommodations for residents of the area or for residents of contiguous areas;
(11) Endemic conditions which impede or retard the economic vitality of the area and which depress the sound economic growth and development of the community at large;
(12) Adverse influences from noise, smoke or fumes which lead to the conclusion that the area in its present condition and use constitutes an economic or social liability to the community and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals or welfare.
(h) "Deteriorating area" means an area, not yet blighted, in which there exists in an incipient stage any of the following conditions whose natural and probable tendency would be to cause such area to become a blighted area or to become a deteriorated area within the reasonably foreseeable future:
(1) Dilapidating or deteriorating buildings;
(2) Aging buildings;
(3) Building types of augmenting obsolescence or which are obsolescent;
(4) Lack of ventilation, light, air, sanitation or open spaces;
(5) Increasing or high density of population and overcrowding of or overcrowded structures;
(6) The appearance of building defects not likely to be remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon;
(7) Taking into consideration current usages, increasingly inadequate or deteriorating plumbing, heating or electrical facilities in structures which are not likely to be remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon;
(8) Increasing numbers or existing large numbers of unremedied, minor defects in buildings which collectively have a deteriorating effect on the surrounding area;
(9) Defective or inadequate street layouts;
(10) The appearance of unsanitary or unsafe conditions on the land or premises thereon which are not likely to be remedied given the present and reasonably foreseeable use of such land or the premises thereon;
(11) Decreasing tax values or fair market values of the land.
(12) Faulty lot layouts in relation to the size, adequacy or potential usefulness of the land or premises thereon;
(13) Defective or unusual conditions of title impairing future improvement or development of the area;
(14) Improper or inappropriate subdivision or obsolete platting in the area;
(15) The appearance of conditions which lead to the reasonable conclusion that life or property will be increasingly endangered by the possibility of fire, disease or other such causes resulting therefrom;
(16) The appearance of conditions which increasingly impede the provision of safe, decent housing accommodations for residents of the area or for residents of contiguous areas;
(17) The appearance of conditions which increasingly impede or retard the economic vitality of the area and which increasingly depress the sound economic growth and development of the community at large;
(18) The appearance of conditions which increasingly impede the community's ability to generate or preserve jobs and employment opportunities and to improve the economic welfare of the people of the community and which is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare of the City.
(i) "Inappropriately developed area" means an area which is inappropriately developed from the standpoint of sound community development and growth in that there are present some of the following factors:
(1) A substantial degree of prolonged vacancy in residential premises or business establishments constituting existing structures;
(2) An increase in the number or frequency of the closing of businesses and commercial establishments or the abandonment of residential facilities;
(3) Increased incidents of vandalism and malicious destruction of property;
(4) Faulty lot layouts in relation to the size, adequacy or potential usefulness of the land or premises thereon;
(5) Defective or unusual conditions of title impairing the utility of the area for reasonable residential or commercial usages;
(6) Substantial deterioration in the economic viability of commercial or mercantile establishments in the area;
(7) Conditions in residences which deny the inhabitants thereof the benefits of safe, decent housing accommodations;
(8) Defective street layouts;
(9) Lack of economic feasibility for the remodeling or refurbishing of existing structures either for residential or nonresidential uses compatible with community development and growth;
(10) Serious violations or existing large numbers of minor violations or increasing numbers of minor violations of current zoning codes and regulations not likely to be remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon;
(11) Nonconforming uses under current zoning codes and regulations, not likely to be remedied given the present and foreseeable use of the land and premises thereon and which are detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare of the City.
(j) "Slum clearance and redevelopment" includes:
(1) Acquisition of a deteriorated area, a blighted area, a deteriorating area or an inappropriately developed area or a portion thereof;
(2) Demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;
(3) Installation, construction or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds and other improvements necessary for carrying out the community development plan; and
(4) Making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies (including sale, initial leasing or retention by the City itself) at its fair market value or fair value as provided in subsection (k) hereof.
(k) "Rehabilitation" or "conservation" includes the restoration and renewal of a deteriorated area, blighted area, deteriorating area, undeveloped area or inappropriately developed area or portion thereof by:
(1) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements;
(2) Acquisition of real property and rehabilitation, demolition or removal of buildings and improvements thereon where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, to encourage the creation of job opportunities and the expansion of the economic viability of the community or to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of deterioration or blight or to insure the proper growth and development of the area or to provide land for needed public facilities;
(3) Installation, construction or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds and other improvements necessary for carrying out the community development provisions of this chapter; and
(4) The disposition of any property acquired (including sale, initial leasing or retention by the City itself) at its fair market value or fair value, which "fair value" means such value, as determined by Council, as represents a fair value taking into consideration the purposes and necessities of carrying out specific exercises of the governmental powers of the City, including, but not limited to, the providing of low and moderate income housing and the providing of needed sites for public and semi-public uses related to such exercise of governmental power.
(l) "Community development project" includes, among any other activity authorized by applicable Federal Community Development Acts, undertakings or activities of the City in a Community Development District or Districts for the elimination and/or for the prevention of the development or spread of slums, deterioration, deteriorating influences, blight or inappropriate development and may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in a community development area or rehabilitation or conservation in a community development area or any combination or part thereof in accordance with a community development plan.
(m) "Community development plan" means a plan as it exists from time to time for a community development project for slum clearance and redevelopment or for rehabilitation and conservation which plan shall:
(1) Conform to the Master Plan, the Consolidated Plan and the Community Development Program for the City as a whole; and
(2) Shall be sufficiently complete to define the boundary of such area and to include a relocation plan, a utilities plan, a statement as to the necessary easements to be distinguished in carrying forward the plan, a plan for the acquisition of land and demolition and removal of structures as may be proposed under the plan, a statement as to any necessary vacation of alleys or streets to be required by implementation of the plan, a land use plan showing any zoning, planning or land use changes to be proposed or stating that the plan conforms to existing zoning and land use requirements, a traffic circulation plan which includes a delineation of all on-site parking proposals and the relationship of the plan to traffic flow and public transportation; a plan for the redevelopment of the area including a description of the redevelopment or rehabilitation and conservation activities to be undertaken pursuant to the plan, a statement of the community objectives to be accomplished by the implementation of the plan, a description as to the proposed financing of the plan and the marketing of any land acquired by the City pursuant to the plan, if such is proposed thereunder, all proposed land use restrictions under the terms of the plan, such as maximum densities and building requirements and statements as to project phasing.
(n) "Community Development District" means a deteriorated area, blighted area, deteriorating area or inappropriately developed area or a combination thereof.
(o) "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith, and every estate interest, right and use, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise.
(p) "Obligee" includes any bondholder, agents or trustees for any bondholders, or lessor demising to the City property used in connection with an urban renewal project, or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof, and the Federal government, when it is a party to any contract with the City.
(q) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint stock association or body politic; and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.
(r) "Public officer" means any officer who is in charge of any department or branch of the government of the City relating to health, fire, building regulations or to other activities concerning dwellings in the City.
(t) "Community Development Program" means any program for which Federal assistance may be received pursuant to applicable Federal Community Development laws and which is directed toward:
(1) The elimination of deteriorated areas, blighted areas, deteriorating areas, undeveloped areas and inappropriately developed areas and the prevention of influences causing such areas to exist;
(2) The prevention of the deterioration of property and neighborhood and community facilities of importance to the welfare of the community, and principally those persons of low and moderate income;
(3) The conservation and expansion of the City's housing stock in order to provide a decent home and suitable living environment for all persons, but principally those of low and moderate income;
(4) The elimination of conditions which are detrimental to the health, safety and public welfare through code enforcement, demolition, interim rehabilitation assistance and related activities;
(5) The development of new economic opportunities leading to the expansion of jobs and the preservation of existing levels of employment;
(6) The expansion and improvement of the quantity and quality of community services, principally for persons of low and moderate income, which are essential for sound community development;
(7) A more rational utilization of land and other natural resources and the better arrangement of residential, commercial, industrial, recreational and other needed activity centers;
(8) The reduction of the isolation of income groups within communities and geographical areas and the promotion of an increase in the diversity and vitality of neighborhoods through the spatial deconcentration of housing opportunities for persons of lower income and the revitalization of deteriorating or deteriorated neighborhoods to attract persons of higher income; and
(9) The restoration and preservation of properties of special value for historic, architectural or aesthetic reasons.
(The Community Development Program, except as it pertains to slum clearance and redevelopment or to rehabilitation and conservation, need not be limited to community development areas.)
(Ord. 170-04. Passed 3-23-04.)