Delaware § 4525 - Approval of plan; required findings.

§ 4525. Approval of plan; required findings.

(a) Following the hearing required by § 4524 of this title, the local governing body may approve an urban renewal project and the plan therefor if it finds that:

(1) A feasible method exists for the location of families who will be displaced from the urban renewal area, in decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations within their means and without undue hardship to such families;

(2) The urban renewal plan conforms to the general plan of the municipality or community as a whole;

(3) The urban renewal plan gives due consideration to the provision of adequate park and recreational areas and facilities that may be desirable for neighborhood improvement, with special consideration for the health, safety and welfare of children residing in the general vicinity of the site covered by the plan; and

(4) The urban renewal plan will afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the municipality or community as a whole, for the rehabilitation or redevelopment of the urban renewal area by private enterprise.

(b) If the urban renewal area consists of an area of open land to be acquired by the municipality or community, such area shall not be so acquired unless:

(1) If it is to be developed for residential uses, the local governing body shall determine that a shortage of housing of sound standards and design which is decent, safe and sanitary exists in the municipality or community, that the need for housing accommodations has been or will be increased as a result of the clearance of slums in other areas, that the conditions of blight in the area and the shortage of decent, safe and sanitary housing cause or contribute to an increase in and spread of disease and crime, and constitute a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare, and that the acquisition of the area for residential uses is an integral part of and essential to the program of the municipality or community; or

(2) If the area is to be developed for nonresidential uses, the local governing body shall determine that such nonresidential uses are necessary and appropriate to facilitate the proper growth and development of the community in accordance with sound planning standards and local community objectives, which acquisition may require the exercise of governmental action as provided in this chapter, because of defective or unusual conditions of title, diversity of ownership, tax delinquency, improper subdivisions, outmoded street patterns, deterioration of site, economic disuse, unsuitable topography or faulty lot layouts, the need for the correlation of the area with other areas of a municipality or community, by streets and modern traffic requirements, or any combination of such factors or other conditions which retard development of the area.

48 Del. Laws, c. 345, §  6;  31 Del. C. 1953, §  4525;  55 Del. Laws, c. 292, §  8;