It is found and declared in the areas of the City that are or may become blighted with the resulting impairment of taxable values upon which, in large part, municipal revenues depend, that such blighted areas are detrimental to the health, safety, and general welfare of the citizens and to the economic welfare of the municipality; that in order to improve and maintain the general character of the municipality it is necessary to rehabilitate such blighted areas; that the conditions found in blighted areas cannot be remedied by the ordinary operations of private enterprise with due regard to the general welfare of the public, without public participation. The purposes of this ordinance are to rehabilitate such areas by eliminating blight and blight factors within all areas of the City for the protection of the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the municipality, to preserve existing values of other properties within or adjacent to such areas and all other areas of the City, and to preserve the taxable value of the property within such areas and all other areas of the City. It is expressly recognized that blight is observable at different stages of severity, and that moderate blight unremedied creates a strong probability that severe blight will follow. Therefore, the conditions that constitute blight are to be broadly construed to permit a municipality to make an early identification of problems and to take early remedial action to correct a demonstrated pattern of deterioration and to prevent worsening of blight conditions.
(Ord. 2001-16. Passed 6-5-01.)