Arkansas § 14-169-202 - Legislative declarations.

§ 14-169-202. Legislative declarations.

It is declared that: There exist in the state insanitary or unsafe dwelling accommodations and that persons of low income are forced to reside in insanitary or unsafe accommodations; within the state there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations available at rents which persons of low income can afford, and that those persons are forced to occupy overcrowded and congested dwelling accommodations; these conditions cause an increase in and spread of disease and crime and constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the residents of the state and impair economic values; these conditions necessitate excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection, and other public services and facilities; Slum areas in the state cannot be cleared, nor can the shortage of safe and sanitary dwellings for persons of low income be relieved, through the operation of private enterprise, and that the construction of housing projects for persons of low income, as defined in § 14-169-203, would therefore not be competitive with private enterprise; The clearance, replanning, and reconstruction of the areas in which insanitary or unsafe housing conditions exist and the providing of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons of low income are exclusively public uses and purposes for which public money may be spent and private property acquired and are governmental functions of state concern; It is a proper public purpose for any state public body to aid, as provided in this subchapter, any housing authority operating within its boundaries or jurisdiction or any housing project located therein, as the state public body derives immediate benefits and advantages from such an authority or project; It is in the public interest that work on housing projects be commenced as soon as possible in order to relieve unemployment which constitutes an emergency; and The necessity in the public interest for the provisions enacted in this subchapter is declared as a matter of legislative determination.