2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal › Section 45 - Urban Renewal Programs Declaration of Necessity

Section 45. It is hereby declared that substandard, decadent or blighted open areas exist in certain cities and towns in this commonwealth; that each constitutes a serious and growing menace, injurious and inimical to the safety, health, morals and welfare of the residents of the commonwealth; that each contributes substantially to the spread of disease and crime, necessitating excessive and disproportionate expenditure of public funds for the preservation of the public health and safety, for crime prevention, correction, prosecution and punishment and the treatment of juvenile delinquency and for the maintenance of adequate police, fire and accident protection and other public services and facilities; that each constitutes an economic and social liability, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of cities and towns, and retards the provision of housing accommodation; that each decreases the value of private investments and threatens the sources of public revenue and the financial stability of communities; that because of the economic and social interdependence of different communities and of different areas within single communities, the redevelopment of land in decadent, substandard and blighted open areas in accordance with a comprehensive plan to promote the sound growth of the community is necessary in order to achieve permanent and comprehensive elimination of existing slums and substandard conditions and to prevent the recurrence of such slums or conditions or their development in other parts of the community or in other communities; that the redevelopment of blighted open areas promotes the clearance of decadent or substandard areas and prevents their creation and occurrence; that the menace of such decadent, substandard or blighted open areas is beyond remedy and control solely by regulatory process in the exercise of the police power and cannot be dealt with effectively by the ordinary operations of private enterprise without the aids herein provided; that the acquisition of property for the purpose of eliminating decadent, substandard or blighted open conditions thereon and preventing recurrence of such conditions in the area, the removal of structures and improvement of sites, the disposition of the property for redevelopment incidental to the foregoing, the exercise of powers by urban renewal agencies and any assistance which may be given by cities and towns or any other public bodies in connection therewith are public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and the power of eminent domain exercised; and that the acquisition, planning, clearance, conservation, rehabilitation or rebuilding of such decadent, substandard and blighted open areas for residential, governmental, recreational, educational, hospital, business, commercial, industrial or other purposes, including the provision of streets, parks, recreational areas and other open spaces, are public uses and benefits for which private property may be acquired by eminent domain or regulated by wholesome and reasonable orders, laws and directions and for which public funds may be expended for the good and welfare of this commonwealth.
It is further declared that while certain of such decadent, substandard and blighted open areas, or portions thereof, may require acquisition and clearance because the state of deterioration may make impracticable the reclamation of such areas or portions by conservation and rehabilitation, other of such areas, or portions thereof, are in such condition that they may be conserved and rehabilitated in such a manner that the conditions and evils enumerated above may be alleviated or eliminated; and that all powers relating to conservation and rehabilitation conferred by this chapter are for public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and said powers exercised.
The necessity in the public interest for the provisions of this chapter relating to urban renewal projects is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination.