North Dakota § 40-58-09 - Disposal of property in development or renewal area

§ 40-58-09. Disposal of property in development or renewal area

1. A municipality may sell, lease, or otherwise transfer real property or any interest in real property acquired by it, and may enter into contracts with respect to the real property, in a development or renewal area for residential, recreational, commercial, industrial, or other uses or for public use, or may retain the property or interest for public use, in accordance with the development or renewal plan, subject to such covenants, conditions, and restrictions, including covenants running with the land, as it may deem to be necessary or desirable to assist in preventing the development or spread of future slums or blighted areas, to facilitate the development of industrial or commercial properties, or to otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter; provided, that the sale, lease, other transfer, or retention, and any agreement relating thereto, may be made only after the approval of the development or renewal plan by the governing body. The purchasers or lessees and their successors and assigns must be obligated to devote the real property only to the uses specified in the development or renewal plan, and may be obligated to comply with any other requirements that the municipality determines are in the public interest, including the obligation to begin within a reasonable time any improvements on the real property required by the development or renewal plan. The real property or interest must be sold, leased, otherwise transferred, or retained at not less than its fair value for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan. In determining the fair value of real property for uses in accordance with the development or renewal plan, a municipality shall take into account and give consideration to the uses provided in the plan; the restrictions upon, and the covenants, conditions, and obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee or by the municipality retaining the property; and the objectives of the plan for the development of industrial or commercial properties and the prevention of the recurrence of slum or blighted areas. The municipality in any instrument of conveyance to a private purchaser or lessee may provide that the purchaser or lessee may not sell, lease, or otherwise transfer the real property without the prior written consent of the municipality until the purchaser or lessee has completed the construction of any and all improvements which the purchaser or lessee is obligated to construct on the real property. Real property acquired by a municipality which, in accordance with the provisions of the development or renewal plan, is to be transferred, must be transferred as rapidly as feasible in the public interest consistent with the carrying out of the provisions of the development or renewal plan. The inclusion in any contract or conveyance to a purchaser or lessee of any such covenants, restrictions, or conditions, including the incorporation by reference of the provisions of a development or renewal plan or any part of the plan, does not prevent the filing of the contract or conveyance in the land records of the recorder in a manner that affords actual or constructive notice of the contract or conveyance. 2. A municipality may dispose of real property in a development or renewal area to private persons in a manner that appropriately carries out the purposes and provisions of this chapter. Thereafter, the municipality may execute the contract in accordance with the provisions of subsection 1 and deliver deeds, leases, and other instruments and take all steps necessary to effectuate the contract. 3. A municipality may temporarily operate and maintain real property acquired in a development or renewal area pending the disposition of the property for development or redevelopment, without regard to the provisions of subsection 1, for any uses and purposes as may be deemed desirable even though not in conformity with the development or renewal plan.