2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121c - Economic Development and Industrial Corporations › Section 2 - Legislative Declarations

Section 2. It is hereby declared that decadent or blighted open areas exist in the municipalities of the commonwealth zoned for industrial or manufacturing uses; that each such area constitutes a serious and growing menace, injurious and inimical to the safety, health, morals and welfare of the residents of the municipalities; that each such area constitutes an economic liability, substantially, impairs or arrests the sound growth of the municipalities, and retards the economic well being of the commonwealth; that each decreases the value of private investments and threatens the sources of public revenue; that redevelopment of each such area in accordance with an economic development plan for the elimination of substandard conditions and the prevention of their recurrence is necessary to retain existing industries, and attract new industries, and promote the sound economic growth of the municipalities that the menace of such decadent 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 aid herein provided; that the acquisition of property for the purpose of eliminating decadent, substandard, or blighted open conditions therein, preventing recurrence of such conditions in the area, the removal of structures and improvements of sites for manufacturing and industrial uses, the disposition of the property for redevelopment incidental to the foregoing, the exercise of powers by the corporation and any assistance which may be given by the municipality, or any other public body 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, development, rehabilitation or rebuilding of such decadent and blighted open areas for industrial or manufacturing purposes, 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 the municipality and of this commonwealth.
It is hereby further found and declared that there exists in the commonwealth a condition of substantial and persistent unemployment and underemployment which causes hardship to many individuals and families, wastes vital human resources, increases the public assistance burdens, impairs the security of family life, impedes the economic and physical development of the municipalities and adversely affects the welfare and prosperity of the people; that unemployment and underemployment have been caused in part by industrial and manufacturing companies moving from the municipalities; that many existing industrial and manufacturing facilities within the municipalities are obsolete and inefficient; that such facilities are underutilized or vacated, thereby creating additional unemployment; that such obsolescence and abandonment of existing facilities are causing injury to the economy of the municipalities; that the manufacturing and industrial sector of the economy provides one of the best immediate opportunities for better jobs at higher wages for inhabitants of the municipalities that new industrial and manufacturing sites are required to attract and house new industries and to retain existing industries in need of expansion space; that the unaided efforts of private enterprise have not provided and cannot provide the necessary industrial sites within the urban environment due to problems encountered in the assembly of suitable building sites, the provision of adequate public services, the unavailability of sufficient private capital for development, and the inability of private enterprise alone to plan, finance and coordinate industrial development projects; that in many metropolitan areas of the commonwealth, municipalities want and need to revitalize their industrial job base, but are frequently at a competitive disadvantage with suburban areas in the process of assembling and developing industrial land resources.