Alabama § 24-3-2 - Authority to Plan and Undertake Urban Renewal Projects; Limitations on Eminent Domain.

§ 24-3-2. Authority to Plan and Undertake Urban Renewal Projects; Limitations on Eminent Domain.

(a) In addition to its authority under this title, any housing authority created under this title is hereby authorized to plan and undertake urban renewal projects.

(b) The governing body of any incorporated city or town is likewise hereby authorized to plan and undertake urban renewal projects and shall have and possess the same powers and authority granted to or conferred on any housing authority.

(c) As used in this chapter, an urban renewal project may include undertakings and activities for the elimination and for the prevention of the spread of blighted property as defined in subsection (c) of Section 24-2-2 and may involve any work or undertaking for such purpose constituting a redevelopment project authorized by Chapter 2 of this title, or any rehabilitation or conservation work or any combination of such undertaking or work. For this purpose, “rehabilitation or conservation work” may include:

(1) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements;

(2) Acquisition of real property and demolition, removal or rehabilitation of buildings and improvements thereon, where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities;

(3) Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out the objectives of the urban renewal project; and

(4) The disposition, for uses in accordance with the objectives of the urban renewal project, of any property or part thereof acquired in the area of such projects; provided that such disposition shall be in the manner prescribed in Chapter 2 of this title for the disposition of property in a redevelopment project area.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, an urban renewal project may include property that is not blighted, but the power of eminent domain may not be exercised to acquire property that is not blighted without the consent of the owner.