The Three Species of Redevelopment
Utah first enacted a Redevelopment law, the Neighborhood Redevelopment Act, in 1969. The Utah Act was originally modeled on the California Act which itself was patterned after the Illinois law. The current Act, the Redevelopment Agencies Act (the “Act”), Utah Code Annotated (“UCA”) §§ 17B-4-101 et seq., 1 is the product of a 2001 recodification effort, undertaken to clarify various aspects of the redevelopment law which had been blurred—and in some instances obscured—by years of overlapping legislation.
The present law distinguishes three types of redevelopment: traditional redevelopment (“RDA”), the aim of which is the removal of “blight”; economic development (“EDA”), designed to create of jobs; and education housing development, providing for student housing at colleges and universities. 2
Redevelopment: Removal of Blight
Traditional redevelopment laws are designed to facilitate revitalization of run-down, “blighted” 3 urban areas by giving special powers and incentives to do so. Special powers include eminent domain. Incentives include tax increment financing.The theory of Redevelopmentis that without special powers and incentives, blighted urban areas would remain blighted and unredeveloped while development occurred in undeveloped areas.
Economic Development: Job Creation
Economic Development Areas (“EDA’s”) sprang into existence in 1996. Part of the reasoning behind the legislation that allows the creation of EDA’s was perceived misuse of traditional redevelopment and desire to create a new program that was better tailored to meet economic development rather than redevelopment of blighted areas.
As Redevelopment was the only program available prior to 1996, many agencies sought to stretch the RDA law to meet situations it was likely not intended to address. A prime example was the use of RDA law to develop previously undeveloped areas. The legislature determined that so-called “open field” redevelopment was inappropriate but also recognized the municipal need to create projects where economic stimulus tools could be used.
These competing desires led to both the restriction of Redevelopment by tightening blight requirements and the creation of EDA’s which have a goal of job creation rather than blight elimination. See UCA § 17B-4-102(11).
Education Housing Development: Student Housing
In 1999, the legislature created a third type of redevelopment: Education Housing Development. This third sort of allows the use of incentives to foster development of high density housing adjacent to a public or private institution of higher education. See UCA § 17B-4-102(12)
1 Title 17B of the Utah Code addresses “Limited Purpose Local Government Entities.” The Redevelopment Agencies Act comprises the entirety of Chapter 4.
2 Technically, “RDA” and “EDA” stand, respectively, for “redevelopment area” and “economic development Area.” (There is as yet no shorthand for “education housing development.”) The terms “RDA” and “EDA,” however, are universally used in reference to both the legal mechanism generally and individual projects in particular. So, for example, “Gateway RDA” can mean “the Gateway Redevelopment Project Area” as well as “the Gateway Redevelopment Project.”
3 “Blight” is a technical legal term. See § 4.2 below.