SB 148 First Engrossed 2012148e1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to community redevelopment; amending 3 s. 163.340, F.S.; expanding the definition of the term 4 “blighted area” to include land previously used as a 5 military facility and adjacent to a county-owned 6 zoological park; providing an effective date. 7 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9 10 Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 163.340, Florida 11 Statutes, is amended to read: 12 163.340 Definitions.—The following terms, wherever used or 13 referred to in this part, have the following meanings: 14 (8) “Blighted area” means an area in which there are a 15 substantial number of deteriorated, or deteriorating structures, 16 in which conditions, as indicated by government-maintained 17 statistics or other studies, are leading to economic distress or 18 endanger life or property, and in which two or more of the 19 following factors are present: 20 (a) Predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, 21 parking facilities, roadways, bridges, or public transportation 22 facilities; 23 (b) Aggregate assessed values of real property in the area 24 for ad valorem tax purposes have failed to show any appreciable 25 increase over the 5 years prior to the finding of such 26 conditions; 27 (c) Faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, 28 accessibility, or usefulness; 29 (d) Unsanitary or unsafe conditions; 30 (e) Deterioration of site or other improvements; 31 (f) Inadequate and outdated building density patterns; 32 (g) Falling lease rates per square foot of office, 33 commercial, or industrial space compared to the remainder of the 34 county or municipality; 35 (h) Tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the 36 fair value of the land; 37 (i) Residential and commercial vacancy rates higher in the 38 area than in the remainder of the county or municipality; 39 (j) Incidence of crime in the area higher than in the 40 remainder of the county or municipality; 41 (k) Fire and emergency medical service calls to the area 42 proportionately higher than in the remainder of the county or 43 municipality; 44 (l) A greater number of violations of the Florida Building 45 Code in the area than the number of violations recorded in the 46 remainder of the county or municipality; 47 (m) Diversity of ownership or defective or unusual 48 conditions of title which prevent the free alienability of land 49 within the deteriorated or hazardous area; or 50 (n) Governmentally owned property with adverse 51 environmental conditions caused by a public or private entity. 52 53 However, the term “blighted area” also means any area in which 54 at least one of the factors identified in paragraphs (a) through 55 (n) isarepresent and all taxing authorities subject to s. 56 163.387(2)(a) agree,eitherby interlocal agreement, byor57 agreements with the agency, or by resolution, that the area is 58 blighted, or the area was previously used as a military facility 59 and is adjacent to a county-owned zoological park. Such 60 agreement or resolution shallonlydetermine only that the area 61 is blighted. For purposes of qualifying for the tax credits 62 authorized in chapter 220, “blighted area” means an area as 63 defined in this subsection. 64 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.