Section 725.01 - Urban renewal debt retirement fund definitionsAs used in sections 725.01 to 725.11 of the Revised Code:
(A) "Slum area" means an area within a municipal corporation, in which area there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, which by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age or obsolescence, inadequate provision for ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces, high density of population and overcrowding, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property, by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, or crime, and is detrimental to public health, safety, morals, or welfare.(B) "Blighted area" means an area within a municipal corporation that substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipal corporation, retards the provision of housing accommodations, or constitutes an economic or social liability and is a menace to the public health, safety, morals, or welfare in its present condition and use by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slums, deteriorated or deteriorating structures, predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, contamination by hazardous substances or petroleum, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity of ownership, tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land, defective or unusual conditions to title, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors.(C)(1) "Development agreement" means an agreement that includes as a minimum all of the following agreements between a municipal corporation as obligee and the following parties as obligors: (a) An agreement to construct or rehabilitate the structures and facilities described in the development agreement on real property described in the agreement situated in an urban renewal area, the obligor of such agreement to be a party determined by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation to have the ability to perform or cause the performance of the agreement;(b) The agreement required by section 725.04 of the Revised Code, the obligor of the agreement to be the owner or owners of the improvements to be constructed or rehabilitated;(c) An agreement of the owner or owners of the fee simple of the real property to which the development agreement pertains, as obligor, that the owner or owners and their successors and assigns shall use, develop, and redevelop the real property in accordance with, and for the period of, the urban renewal plan and shall so bind their successors and assigns by appropriate agreements and covenants running with the land enforceable by the municipal corporation.(2) A municipal corporation on behalf of the holders of urban renewal bonds may be the obligor of any of the agreements described in division (C)(1) of this section.(D) "Revenues" means all rentals received under leases made by the municipal corporation in any part or all of one or more urban renewal areas; all proceeds of the sale or other disposition of property of the municipal corporation in any part or all of one or more urban renewal areas; all revenue available to the municipal corporation pursuant to a development agreement described in division (C)(1) of this section; and all urban renewal service payments collected from any part or all of one or more urban renewal areas.(E) "Urban renewal area" means a slum area or a blighted area or a combination thereof which the legislative authority of the municipal corporation designates as appropriate for an urban renewal project.(F) "Urban renewal bonds" means, unless the context indicates a different meaning, definitive bonds, interim receipts, temporary bonds, and urban renewal refunding bonds issued pursuant to sections 725.01 to 725.11 of the Revised Code, and bonds issued pursuant to Article XVIII, Section 3, Ohio Constitution, for the uses specified in section 725.07 of the Revised Code.(G) "Urban renewal refunding bonds" means the refunding bonds authorized by section 725.07 of the Revised Code.(H) "Urban renewal plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for an urban renewal project, which plan shall do both of the following: (1) Conform to the general plan for the municipal corporation, if any;(2) Be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition, and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, cleanup or remediation of hazardous substances or petroleum, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the urban renewal area, zoning, and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, and building requirements.(I) "Urban renewal project" may include undertakings and activities of a municipal corporation in an urban renewal area for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of slums and blight. "Urban renewal project" may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in an urban renewal area, or rehabilitation or conservation in an urban renewal area, or any combination or part thereof, in accordance with an urban renewal plan, and such aforesaid undertakings and activities may include any of the following: (1) Acquisition of a slum area or a blighted area, or portion thereof, demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;(2) Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, public buildings and facilities, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the urban renewal area the urban renewal objectives in accordance with the urban renewal plan, disposition of any property acquired in the urban renewal area, including sale, leasing, or retention by the municipal corporation itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan;(3) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan;(4) The cleanup or remediation of hazardous substances or petroleum in fulfillment of revitalization purposes provided for in Article VIII, section 2q, Ohio Constitution;(5) The acquisition, construction, enlargement, improvement, or equipment of property, structures, equipment, or facilities for industry, commerce, distribution, or research from the proceeds of urban renewal bonds issued pursuant to division (C) of section 725.05 of the Revised Code; and(6) Acquisition of any other real property in the urban renewal area where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, eliminate obsolete, or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or otherwise to remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities.(J) "Urban renewal debt retirement fund" means a fund, created pursuant to section 725.03 of the Revised Code by the legislative authority of a municipal corporation when authorizing a single issue or a series of urban renewal bonds, to be used for payment of the principal of and interest and redemption premium on such urban renewal bonds, trustee's fees, and costs and expenses of providing credit facilities, put arrangements, and interest rate hedges, and for fees and expenses of agents, and other fees, costs, and expenses, in connection with arrangements under sections 9.98 to 9.983 of the Revised Code; or when authorizing the repayment of loans from the state issued pursuant to Chapter 164. of the Revised Code and used for urban renewal projects, to be used to repay the principal and interest on such loans. When so authorized by the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, such a fund may be used for both purposes permitted under this division.(K) "Urban renewal service payments" means the urban renewal service payments, in lieu of taxes, provided for in section 725.04 of the Revised Code.(L) "Improvements" means the structures and facilities constructed or rehabilitated pursuant to a development agreement.(M) "Exemption period" means that period during which all or a portion of the assessed valuation of the improvements has been exempted from real property taxation pursuant to section 725.02 of the Revised Code.(N) "Cleanup or remediation" means any action to contain, remove, or dispose of hazardous substances or petroleum at a brownfield. "Cleanup or remediation" includes the acquisition of a brownfield, demolition performed at a brownfield, and the installation or upgrade of the minimum amount of infrastructure that is necessary to make a brownfield operational for economic development activity.(O) "Hazardous substances" and "petroleum" have the same meanings as in section 3746.01 of the Revised Code.Amended by 135th General Assembly, HB 33,§101.01, eff. 10/3/2023.Amended by 132nd General Assembly, HB 49,§101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.Effective Date: 7/22/1994 .