N.Y. General Municipal Law § 505: Urban renewal plan and approval thereof

§ 505. Urban renewal plan and approval thereof. 1. Following the

designation of an area pursuant to section five hundred four of this

article, the agency shall prepare or cause to be prepared an urban

renewal plan for such area in its entirety or, where the designated area

is of such scope that the agency deems it necessary or advisable to have

the urban renewal activities to be undertaken therein carried out in

stages, an urban renewal plan for a part or portion of such designated

area.

2. The urban renewal plan for the designated area, or for a part or

portion of such area, shall be submitted to the commission which shall

certify, after a public hearing held on due notice, whether such plan

complies with the provisions of subdivision seven of section five

hundred two of this article and conforms to the finding made pursuant to

section five hundred four of this article. The commission shall submit

its report to the governing body, not later than ten weeks from the date

of referral of the plan to it, certifying its unqualified approval, its

disapproval, or its qualified approval with recommendations for

modifications therein.

3. After a public hearing, held on due notice after the report is

received or due from the commission, the governing body may:

(a) if the commission shall have certified its unqualified approval,

approve the plan by a majority vote;

(b) if the commission shall have certified its disapproval or shall

have failed to make its report within ten weeks from the date such plan

was submitted to it by the agency, nevertheless approve the plan, but

only by a three-fourths vote;

(c) if the commission shall have certified its qualified approval

together with recommendations for modifications, approve the plan

together with the modifications recommended by the commission by a

majority vote, or approve the plan without such modifications but only

by a three-fourths vote.

4. Upon approving the urban renewal plan for the designated area, or

for a part or portion of such area, with or without modifications

recommended by the commission, the governing body shall by resolution

find that:

(a) The area is a substandard or insanitary area, or is in danger of

becoming a substandard or insanitary area and tends to impair or arrest

the sound growth and development of the municipality.

(b) The financial aid to be provided to the municipality is necessary

to enable the project to be undertaken in accordance with the plan.

(c) The plan affords maximum opportunity to private enterprise,

consistent with the sound needs of the municipality as a whole, for the

undertaking of an urban renewal program.

(d) The plan conforms to a comprehensive community plan for the

development of the municipality as a whole.

(e) There is a feasible method for the relocation of families and

individuals displaced from the urban renewal area into decent, safe and

sanitary dwellings, which are or will be provided in the urban renewal

area or in other areas not generally less desirable in regard to public

utilities and public and commercial facilities, at rents or prices

within the financial means of such families or individuals, and

reasonably accessible to their places of employment.

Upon approving an urban renewal plan for a part or portion of a

designated area, the governing body shall, in addition to the foregoing,

also find that the undertaking and carrying out of the urban renewal

activities in stages is in the best public interest and will not cause

any additional or increased hardship to the residents of such designated

area.

5. In a city having a population of one million or more, any action of

the council approving an urban renewal plan shall be filed with the

mayor within five days of such action for approval or disapproval.