(315 ILCS 5/2) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 64)
Sec. 2. It is hereby found and declared (a) that there exist in many urban communities within this State slum and blighted areas, as defined herein; (b) that such slum and blighted areas contribute to the development and cause an increase in and spread of disease, crime, infant mortality and juvenile delinquency, and constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the State; that these conditions necessitate excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public fund for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection, and other public services and facilities and constitute a drain upon the public revenue and continue to impair the efficient, economical and indispensable governmental functions of the municipalities embracing such areas, as well as of the State; and (c) that in order to promote and protect the health, safety, morals and welfare of the public it is necessary to provide for the eradication and elimination of slum and blighted areas and the construction of redevelopment projects thereon, and that the eradication and elimination of such areas and the construction of redevelopment projects financed by private capital, with limited financial assistance from governmental bodies, in the manner provided in this Act are hereby declared to be a public use essential to the public interest.
It is also found and declared (a) that there exist in many communities within this State areas of platted or unplatted land which are predominantly open and which, by reason of obsolete platting, diversity of ownership, deterioration of structures or site improvements, or taxes and special assessment delinquencies usually exceeding the fair value of the land, are unmarketable in fact for housing or other economic purposes, and which otherwise substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of communities; (b) that the inability to market and develop such predominantly open areas constitutes a blight upon communities by preventing the construction of critically needed residential housing or other appropriate development; (c) that the retardation of housing and other essential community development and redevelopment projects is a direct and immediate result of such blighted vacant areas and that the existence of such areas constitutes a menace to the public health, safety, welfare and morals by promoting the creation and continuation of slum and blighted areas, as herein defined, with their attendant evils of disease, crime, infant mortality and juvenile delinquency; (d) that in order to promote and protect the health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of this State, it is essential that such open areas be made available for development for residential or other use; and (e) that the acquisition of such predominantly open land and the development or redevelopment thereof by private capital, with limited financial assistance from governmental bodies, in the manner provided by this Act, is hereby declared to be a public use essential to the public interest.
It is also found and declared (a) that the development and redevelopment of urban communities is best served by making such slum and blighted areas and blighted vacant areas available for redevelopment for any use for which the land is suited, public or private, by bodies politic and corporate, public corporations, or other public bodies, or any private interests, and (b) the eradication and elimination of slum and blighted areas and the acquisition of blighted vacant areas and the development or redevelopment thereof by public bodies or private interests for any appropriate use, public or private, consistent with the general plan for the municipality, in the manner provided in this Act, is hereby declared to be a public use essential to the public interest.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 3800.)
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Last modified: February 18, 2015