New Jersey § 52:27d-153

§ 52:27d-153.

The Legislature hereby finds and determines that there exists in many municipalities

of this State areas which are in varying stages of decline, but which have not as

yet reached the point of irreversible decline; that these areas are a matter of serious

concern, and represent an expanding problem which threatens the public health, safety,

morals and welfare; that the neglect of these areas at the present time will necessitate

excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for the reconstruction

and revitalization of these areas at a future date; that to permit the continued

decline of such areas into a state of decay would ignore the lessons of decades of

urban renewal activities, would impair the sound growth of our municipalities, would

lay waste to essential housing resources and would result in an economic, environmental,

and social liability which the State can no longer tolerate. The Legislature further finds that these problems can best be addressed through the

conjunctive and cooperative efforts of private enterprise, State Government, its political

subdivisions, and other public, quasi-public, and nonprofit bodies acting pursuant

to neighborhood preservation plans conceived and prepared in accordance with the purposes

of this act and through its direction. The Legislature further finds that the responsibilities of State and local governments

with respect to the preservation of our municipalities and neighborhoods have been

altered and magnified by actions of the Federal Government, which now permits states

and localities to undertake directly a broader range of housing rehabilitation activities

than previously possible under former Federal assistance programs; and that in order

that the people of this State shall derive the maximum feasible benefit from this

shift in Federal policy, it is necessary and appropriate to expand the power of municipal

government and the administrative authority of the Department of Community Affairs. The Legislature hereby declares it to be the policy of the State to promote the health,

safety, and welfare of the citizens thereof through the preservation of existing neighborhoods

and the maintenance of neighborhood viability. This policy is best effectuated by the reconstruction, remodeling, improvement,

restoration, or repair of existing residential housing to sound condition. For this purpose, powers are hereby granted to municipalities and the Department

of Community Affairs to offer financial assistance through loans or grants or both

to agencies, public, quasi-public, or private nonprofit, which will finance rehabilitation

of housing through a program of loans and grants in an area determined by the municipal

governing body to be substandard, deteriorating, or in the process of falling into

a cycle of disrepair. It is hereby declared that the undertaking of such housing rehabilitation is a public

purpose for which monies may be expended, advanced, loaned or granted and the enactment

of the provisions hereinafter set forth is in the public interest.