2023 Wyoming Statutes › Title 15 - Cities and Towns › Chapter 9 - Urban Renewal › Article 1 - Urban Development › Section 15-9-103 - Definitions.

15-9-103. Definitions.
(a) As used in this chapter, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
(i) "Agency" or "urban renewal agency" means a public agency created by W.S. 15-9-134;
(ii) "Area of operation" means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality and the area within five (5) miles of those limits, except that it may include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of another incorporated city or town if a resolution has been adopted by the governing body of the other city or town consenting to the inclusion and it may include any unincorporated area within five (5) miles of the corporate limits of the municipality if a resolution has been adopted by the county commissioners of the unincorporated area consenting to the inclusion;
(iii) "Blighted area" means an area which by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slums, deteriorated or deteriorating structures, predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility or usefulness, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity of ownership, tax or special assessments, delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of those factors, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipality, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals or welfare in its present condition and use. However, if the blighted area consists of open land, the conditions contained in W.S. 15-9-110(b) apply and any disaster area referred to in W.S. 15-9-112 constitutes a "blighted area";
(iv) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures or other obligations;
(v) "Clerk" means the clerk or other official of the municipality who is the custodian of the official records of the municipality;
(vi) "Council" or "commission" means a council, board, commission, department, division, office, body or other unit of the municipality;
(vii) "Federal government" means the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality thereof;
(viii) "Local governing body" means the commission, council or other legislative body charged with governing the municipality;
(ix) "Mayor" means the mayor of a municipality or other officer or body having the duties customarily imposed upon the executive head of a municipality;
(x) "Municipality" means any incorporated or chartered city or town as established under Wyoming law;
(xi) "Obligee" means any bondholder, agents or trustees for any bondholders, or lessor demising to the municipality, property used in connection with an urban renewal project, or any assignee or assignees of the lessor's interest or any part thereof, and the federal government if it is a party to any contract with the municipality;
(xii) "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;
(xiii) "Public body" means the state, or any county, municipality, board, commission, authority, district or any other subdivision or public body thereof;
(xiv) "Public officer" means any officer who is in charge of any department or branch of the government of the municipality relating to health, fire, building regulations or any other activities concerning dwellings in the municipality;
(xv) "Real property" means 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 therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise;
(xvi) "Slum area" means an area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age or obsolescence, inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces, high density of population and overcrowding, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of those factors is conducive to ill health and is detrimental to the public safety, morals or welfare;
(xvii) "Urban renewal area" means a slum area or a blighted area or a combination thereof which the local governing body designates as appropriate for an urban renewal project;
(xviii) "Urban renewal plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for one (1) or more urban renewal areas, or for any urban renewal project, which:
(A) Conforms to the general plan for the municipality as a whole, except as provided in W.S. 15-9-112, and is consistent with definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities and other public improvements; and
(B) 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 urban renewal area, zoning and planning changes, if any, land used, maximum densities and building requirements.
(xix) "Urban renewal project" includes undertakings and activities of a municipality in one (1) or more urban renewal areas for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of slums and blight, and may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in an urban renewal area, or rehabilitation or conservation in an urban renewal area, or any combination or part thereof in accordance with an urban renewal plan. The undertakings and activities may include:
(A) Acquisition of a slum area or a blighted area or portion thereof;
(B) Demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;
(C) Installation, construction or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the urban renewal area the urban renewal objectives of this chapter in accordance with the urban renewal plan;
(D) Disposition of any property acquired in the urban renewal area at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan;
(E) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan; and
(F) Acquisition of any other real property in the urban renewal area if necessary to eliminate unhealthy, unsanitary 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.