Vermont § 4001 - Declaration of policy It is hereby declared:

§ 4001. Declaration of policy It is hereby declared:

• (1) That there exists in the State unsanitary or unsafe dwelling accommodations and that
  persons of low income are forced to reside in such unsanitary or unsafe accommodations;
  that within the State there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations
  available at rents that persons of low income can afford and that such persons are
  forced to occupy overcrowded and congested dwelling accommodations; that the aforesaid
  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 of Vermont
  and impair economic value; that 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. (2) That these slum areas 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 section 4002 of this chapter, would therefore not be competitive with the private
  enterprise. (3) That the clearance, replanning, and reconstruction of the areas in which unsanitary
  or unsafe housing conditions exist and the providing of safe and sanitary dwelling
  accommodations for persons of low income are public uses and purposes for which public
  money may be spent and private property acquired. (4) That substandard and decadent areas exist in certain portions of the State of Vermont
  and that there is not, in certain parts of the State, an adequate supply of decent,
  safe, and sanitary housing for persons of low income or elders of low income, or both
  available for rents that the persons can afford to pay, and the rents that the persons
  can afford to pay would not warrant private enterprise in providing housing for the
  persons; that this situation tends to cause an increase and spread of communicable
  and chronic disease; that the lack of properly constructed dwelling units designed
  specifically to meet the needs of elders aggravate those diseases peculiar to elders,
  thereby crowding the hospitals of the State with elders under conditions of neglect
  that inevitably exacerbate mental deterioration; that this situation constitutes a
  menace to the health, safety, welfare, and comfort of the inhabitants of the State
  and is detrimental to property values in the localities in which it exists; that this
  situation cannot readily be remedied by the private enterprise and that a public exigency
  exists that makes the provision of housing for elders of low income and the clearance
  of substandard and decadent areas a public necessity; that the provision of housing
  for elders of low income for the purpose of reducing the cost to the State of their
  care by promoting their health and welfare, thereby prolonging their productivity
  in the interest of the State and nation and the clearance of substandard and decadent
  areas is declared to be a public use for which private property may be taken by eminent
  domain and public funds raised by taxation may be expended, and the necessity in the
  public interest for provisions hereinafter enacted, is hereby declared as a matter
  of legislative determination. (Added 1961, No. 212, § 2, eff