Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 261 - Economic Development Authority › Part III - Community Development Division › Chapter 45 - Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program › Rule 261-45.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise
				  requires:
"Agreement"
means a contract for financial
				  assistance under the program describing the terms on which the financial
				  assistance is to be provided.
"Applicant"
means a city applying for
				  financial assistance under the program.
"Authority"
means the economic development
				  authority created in Iowa Code section
				  15105..
"Building"
means a structure located in a
				  city that is either:
1. Used or
				intended to be used for commercial or industrial purposes; or
2. Used or intended to be used for
				residential purposes.
"Building" includes structures in which some floors may be
				  used for retail stores, shops, salesrooms, markets, or similar commercial uses,
				  or for offices, banks, civic administration activities, professional services,
				  or similar business or civic uses, and other floors are used, designed, or
				  intended to be used for residential purposes.
"Community catalyst"
means a building or
				  buildings which, if remediated, would stimulate additional economic growth or
				  reinvestment in the community, especially private sector financial investment.
				  For purposes of this chapter, "economic growth" may include the creation of
				  additional jobs, growth of new or existing businesses, development of new
				  housing units, increased property values, or potential population growth. The
				  building will be located in an area central to the city's economic development
				  activities. A community catalyst project will be expected to have a significant
				  positive expected impact on the community.
"Costs directly related"
means expenditures
				  that are incurred for acquisition, deconstruction, disposal, redevelopment, or
				  rehabilitation of a community catalyst to the extent that the expenditures are
				  attributable directly to the remediation or redevelopment of the community
				  catalyst. "Costs directly related" includes expenditures for site preparation
				  work, surveying, construction materials, construction labor, architectural
				  services, engineering services, building permits, building inspection fees, and
				  interest accrued on a construction loan during the time period allowed for
				  project completion under an agreement entered into pursuant to the program.
				  "Costs directly related" does not include expenditures for furnishings,
				  appliances, accounting services, legal services, loan origination and other
				  financing costs, syndication fees and related costs, developer fees, or the
				  costs associated with selling or renting the dwelling units whether incurred
				  before or after completion of the housing project.
"Director"
means the director of the
				  authority.
"Financial assistance"
means a grant or loan
				  made by the authority to an applicant approved for funding under the
				  program.
"Program"
means the procedures, agreement,
				  terms, and assistance established and provided pursuant to this chapter.
"Project"
means a proposed plan for the
				  remediation of underutilized buildings in a city. "Project" must include at
				  least one building but no more than two buildings. For two buildings to be
				  considered part of the same project, the buildings must be contiguous and under
				  the same ownership. All community catalyst buildings to be remediated must be
				  included in the proposed plan upon application, and the proposed plan must
				  demonstrate the steps and actions necessary to further remediation and
				  redevelopment efforts in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
"Public nuisance"
means a building that is a
				  menace to the public health, welfare, or safety, or that is structurally
				  unsafe, unsanitary, or not provided with adequate safe egress, or that
				  constitutes a fire hazard, or is otherwise dangerous to human life, or that in
				  relation to the existing use constitutes a hazard to the public health,
				  welfare, or safety by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation,
				  obsolescence, or abandonment. "Public nuisance" includes buildings with
				  blighting characteristics as defined by Iowa Code section
				  4032..
"Redevelopment"
means development activities
				  associated with a project that are undertaken either for the purpose of
				  remediating underutilized buildings, for constructing new buildings or
				  improvements at a site where formerly existing buildings have been demolished,
				  or for rehabilitating, reusing or repurposing existing buildings or
				  improvements at a project site. "Redevelopment" typically includes projects
				  that result in the elimination of blighting characteristics as defined by Iowa
				  Code section
				  4032..
"Remediation"
or
"remediating"
means the redevelopment, repair, improvement,
				  rehabilitation, disposal, or deconstruction of at least one but no more than
				  two underutilized buildings at a site included in a project.
"Underutilized building"
means a building
				  that is vacant or mostly vacant, is blighted or severely deteriorated, and
				  contains potential safety hazards including structural instability, code
				  noncompliance, vermin infestation, vandalism or potential for vandalism,
				  vagrancy, hazardous materials or generally unsafe or hazardous conditions. The
				  building may or may not be considered a public nuisance.