Urban renewal projects.

Memphis Charter, art. 79, § 927.1

in effect

Sec. 927.1. - Urban renewal projects. (a) In addition to its authority under any other section of this Act, an [the] authority is hereby authorized to plan and undertake urban renewal projects. As used in this Act, an urban renewal project may include undertakings and activities for the elimination (and for the prevention of the development or spread) of slums or blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas and may involve any work or undertaking for such purpose constituting a redevelopment project or any rehabilitation or conservation work, or any combination of such undertaking or work. For this purpose, "rehabilitation or conservation work" may include (1) carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements; (2) acquisition of real property and demolition, removal, or rehabilitation of buildings and improvements thereon where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, insanitary or unsafe conditions, lessen density, reduce traffic hazards, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities; (3) installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds and other improvements necessary for carrying out the objectives of the urban renewal project; and (4) the disposition, for uses in accordance with the objectives of the urban renewal project, of any property or part thereof acquired in the area of such project; provided that such disposition shall be in the manner prescribed in this Act for the disposition of property in a redevelopment project area. (b) Any urban renewal project undertaken pursuant to the preceding section [subsection] shall be undertaken in accordance with an urban renewal plan for the area of the project. As used in this Act, an "urban renewal plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for an urban renewal project, which plan (1) shall conform to the general plan for the City of Memphis as a whole; and (2) shall be sufficiently complete to indicate such land acquisition, demolition and removal of structures, redevelopment, improvements, and rehabilitation as may be proposed to be carried out in the area of the urban renewal project, zoning and planning changes, if any, land uses, maximum densities, building requirements, and the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements. An urban renewal plan shall be prepared and approved pursuant to the same procedure as provided in this Act with respect to a redevelopment plan. (c) An [the] authority shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to undertake and carry out urban renewal plans and urban renewal projects, including the authority to acquire and dispose of property, to issue bonds and other obligations, to borrow and accept grants from the Federal Government or other source and to exercise the other powers which this Act confers on an [the] authority with respect to redevelopment projects. In connection with the planning and undertaking of any urban renewal plan or urban renewal project, the authority, the municipality, and all public and private officers, agencies, and bodies shall have all the rights, powers, privileges, and immunities which they have with respect to a redevelopment plan or redevelopment project, in the same manner as though all of the provisions of this Act applicable to a redevelopment plan or redevelopment project were applicable to an urban renewal plan or urban renewal project; provided that for such purpose the word "redevelopment" as used in this Act (except in this section and in the definition of "redevelopment project" in section 3) shall mean "urban renewal", the word "slum" and the word "blighted" as used in this Act (except in this section and in the definitions in section 4) shall mean "blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating"; and provided further that this subsection shall not change the corporate name of the authority or the short title of this Act or amend any section of this Act. In addition to the surveys and plans which an [the] authority is otherwise authorized to make an [the] authority is hereby specifically authorized to make (i) plans for carrying out a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, and (ii) plans for the enforcement of laws, codes, and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and improvements. The authority is authorized to develop, test, and report methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other activities, for the prevention and the elimination of slums and urban blight. (d) The Board of Commissioners of the City of Memphis is hereby authorized (without limiting any provision in the preceding section [subsection]) to do any and all things necessary to aid and cooperate in the planning and undertaking of an urban renewal project in the said City, including the furnishing of such financial and other assistance as the said City is authorized by this Act to furnish for or in connection with a redevelopment plan or redevelopment project. The City of Memphis is hereby authorized to enter into agreements with any other public body or bodies respecting action to be taken pursuant to any of the powers granted by this Act, including the furnishing of funds or other assistance in connection with an urban renewal plan or urban renewal project. (e) The Board of Commissioners of the City of Memphis is hereby authorized to prepare a workable program (which may include an official plan of action, as it exists from time to time for effectively dealing with the problem of urban slums and blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas within the community and for the establishment and preservation of a well-planned community with well organized residential neighborhoods of decent homes and suitable living environment for adequate family life) for utilizing appropriate private and public resources to eliminate and prevent the development or spread of slums and urban blight and deterioration, to encourage needed urban rehabilitation, to provide for the redevelopment of blighted, deteriorated, or slum areas, or to undertake such of the aforesaid activities or other feasible activities as may be suitably employed to achieve the objectives of such a program. (Priv. Acts 1955, ch. 141, §§ 2—6)

Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/charter?nodeId=PTICHRELA_ART79HOAULA_S927.1URREPRFetched: 10/28/2026