As used in sections 303.26 to 303.56 of the Revised Code, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:

(A) "Municipality" means any incorporated city or village of the state.

(B) "Public body" means the state, any county, municipality, township, board, commission, authority, district, or other subdivision.

(C) "Federal government" means the United States or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise thereof.

(D) "Slum " has the meaning defined in section 1.08 of the Revised Code.

(E) "Blighted area" has the meaning defined in section 1.08 of the Revised Code.

If such blighted area consists of open land, the provisions of section 303.34 of the Revised Code shall apply.

Any disaster area referred to in section 303.36 of the Revised Code shall constitute a "blighted area".

(F) "County renewal project" may include undertakings and activities of a county in a county renewal area for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of slums and blight, and may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in a county renewal area, or rehabilitation or conservation in a county renewal area, or any combination or part thereof, in accordance with a county renewal plan, and such aforesaid undertakings and activities may include acquisition of a slum area or a blighted area, or portion thereof; demolition and removal of buildings and improvements; installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the county renewal area the county renewal objectives of sections 303.26 to 303.56, inclusive, of the Revised Code in accordance with the county renewal plan; disposition of any property acquired in the county renewal area, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the county itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with the county renewal plan; carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the county renewal plan; and acquisition of any other real property in the county renewal area where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, insanitary, or unsafe conditions; lessen density, eliminate obsolete, or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or otherwise to remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities.

(G) "County renewal area" means a slum area or a blighted area or a combination thereof which the board of county commissioners designates as appropriate for a county renewal project.

(H) "County renewal plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for a county renewal project, which plan shall conform to the general plan for the county, except as provided in section 303.36 of the Revised Code, and shall be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition, and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the county renewal area, zoning, and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building requirements, and the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements.

(I) "Redevelopment" and derivatives thereof, when used with respect to a county renewal area, mean development as well as redevelopment.

(J) "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.

(K) "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.

(L) "Obligee" includes any bondholder, agents, or trustees for any bondholders, or lessor demising to the county property used in connection with a county 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 county.

(M) "Bond," as used in section 303.46 of the Revised Code, means bonds, including refunding bonds, notes, interim certificates of special indebtedness, debentures, or other obligations of a county, payable and secured as authorized by section 303.46 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-21-1959; 2007 SB7 10-10-2007 .