§ 45-31-8. Definitions. The following definitions and general provisions govern the construction of chapters 31 - 33 of this title:

(1) "Agency" means a redevelopment agency created by this chapter.

(2) "Arrested blighted area" means any area that, by reason of the existence of physical conditions, including, but not by way of limitation, the existence of unsuitable soil conditions, the existence of dumping or other unsanitary or unsafe conditions, the existence of ledge or rock, the necessity of unduly expensive excavation, fill or grading, or the necessity of undertaking unduly expensive measures for the drainage of the area or for the prevention of flooding or for making the area appropriate for sound development, or by reason of obsolete, inappropriate, or otherwise faulty platting or subdivision, deterioration of site improvements, inadequacy of utilities, diversity of ownership of plots, or tax delinquencies, or by reason of any combination of any of the foregoing conditions, is unduly costly to develop soundly through the ordinary operations of private enterprise and impairs the sound growth of the community. An arrested blighted area need not be restricted to, or consist entirely of, lands, buildings, or improvements that, of themselves, fall within this definition, but may consist of an area in which these conditions exist and injuriously affect the entire area.

(3) "Blighted and substandard area" includes a "slum blighted area", a "deteriorated blighted area", or an "arrested blighted area", or any combination of these areas. "Blighted and substandard area" shall also include those areas where hazardous materials, as defined in § 23-19.14-3, are present, regardless of whether or not the entire area contains the hazardous materials.

(4) "Bonds of agency" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates, debentures, or other obligations issued by an agency pursuant to §§ 45-33-5 - 45-33-15.

(5) "Community" means a city or town.

(6) "Deteriorated blighted area" means any area in which there exists buildings or improvements, either used, or intended to be used, for living, commercial, industrial, or other purposes, or any combination of these uses, that by reason of:

(i) Dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence;

(ii) Inadequate provision for ventilation, light, sanitation, open spaces, and recreation facilities;

(iii) High density of population and overcrowding;

(iv) Defective design or unsanitary or unsafe character or conditions of physical construction;

(v) Defective or inadequate street and lot layout; and

(vi) Mixed character, shifting, or deterioration of uses to which they are put, or any combination of these factors and characteristics, are conducive to the further deterioration and decline of the area to the point where it may become a slum blighted area as defined in subdivision (18), and are detrimental to the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the inhabitants of the community and of the state generally. A deteriorated blighted area need not be restricted to, or consist entirely of, lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are detrimental or inimical to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, but may consist of an area in which these conditions exist and injuriously affect the entire area.

(7) "Federal government" means the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

(8) "Legislative body" means the city council or town council.

(9) "Obligee of the agency" or "obligee" include any bondholder, trustee or trustees for any bondholder, or lessor demising to the agency property used in connection with a redevelopment project or any assignee or assignees of that lessor, and the federal government.

(10) "Planning commission" or "commission" means a planning commission or other planning agency established under any state law or created by or pursuant to the charter of the community.

(11) "Project area" means all or any portion of a redevelopment area. A project area may include lands, buildings, or improvements which of themselves are not detrimental or inimical to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, or otherwise fall within the definition of a "blighted or substandard area," but whose inclusion is necessary, with or without change in their conditions or ownership, for the effective redevelopment of the area of which they are a part.

(12) "Public hearing" means a hearing before a legislative body or before any committee of the legislative body to which the matter to be heard has been referred.

(13) "Real property" means lands, including lands underwater and waterfront property, buildings, structures, fixtures, and improvements to the lands, and every estate, interest, privilege, easement, franchise and right, legal or equitable, including rights of way, terms for years and liens, charges or encumbrances by way of judgment, attachment, mortgage, or otherwise, and the indebtedness secured by liens.

(14) "Redevelopment" means the elimination and prevention of the spread of blighted and substandard areas. Redevelopment may include the planning, replanning, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, improvement, furnishing, equipping, clearance, sale, lease, or other disposition, or any combination of these, of land, buildings, or other improvements for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, institutional, public, or other purposes, including the provision of streets, utilities, recreational areas, and other infrastructure and other open spaces consistent with the needs of sound community growth in accordance with the community's general plan and carrying out plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements, and may include such other acts within a redevelopment area permitted pursuant to chapters 31 through 33, inclusive, of this title as determined by the legislative body to be consistent with the purposes of chapters 31 through 33, inclusive, of this title.

(15) "Redevelopment area" means any area of a community that its legislative body has determined includes a blighted and substandard area whose redevelopment is necessary to effectuate the public purposes declared in this chapter.

(16) "Redevelopment plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for a redevelopment project, that:

(i) Conforms to the general plan for the community as a whole; and

(ii) Is sufficiently complete to indicate land acquisition, demolition and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the project 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.

(17) "Redevelopment project" means any work or undertaking of an agency pursuant to chapters 31 - 33 of this title.

(18) "Slum blighted area" means any area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, either used or intended to be used for living, commercial, industrial, or other purposes, or any combination of these uses, which by reason of: (i) Dilapidation, deterioration, age, or obsolescence; (ii) Inadequate provision for ventilation, light, sanitation, open spaces, and recreation facilities; (iii) High density of population and overcrowding; (iv) Defective design or unsanitary or unsafe character or condition of physical construction; (v) Defective or inadequate street and lot layout; and (vi) Mixed character or shifting of uses to which they are put, or any combination of these factors and characteristics, are conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime; injuriously affect the entire area and constitute a menace to the public health, safety, morals, and welfare of the inhabitants of the community and of the state generally. A slum blighted area need not be restricted to, or consist entirely of, lands, buildings, or improvements that of themselves are detrimental or inimical to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, but may consist of an area in which these conditions predominate and injuriously affect the entire area.

(19) "State government" means the state of Rhode Island, or any agency or instrumentality of the state, corporate or otherwise.

(20) "State public body" means the state, or any city or town or any other subdivision or public body of the state or of any city or town.

History of Section. (P.L. 1956, ch. 3654, §§ 7-23; G.L. 1956, § 45-31-8; P.L. 1958, ch. 180, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 347, § 1; P.L. 2006, ch. 466, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 310, § 61; P.L. 2018, ch. 103, § 2.)