| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to community redevelopment areas; amending |
| 3 | s. 163.340, F.S.; expanding the definition of the term |
| 4 | "blighted area" to include land previously used as |
| 5 | military facility; providing an effective date. |
| 6 |
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| 7 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 163.340, Florida |
| 10 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 11 | 163.340 Definitions.--The following terms, wherever used |
| 12 | or referred to in this part, have the following meanings: |
| 13 | (8) "Blighted area" means an area in which there are a |
| 14 | substantial number of deteriorated, or deteriorating structures, |
| 15 | in which conditions, as indicated by government-maintained |
| 16 | statistics or other studies, are leading to economic distress or |
| 17 | endanger life or property, and in which two or more of the |
| 18 | following factors are present: |
| 19 | (a) Predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, |
| 20 | parking facilities, roadways, bridges, or public transportation |
| 21 | facilities; |
| 22 | (b) Aggregate assessed values of real property in the area |
| 23 | for ad valorem tax purposes have failed to show any appreciable |
| 24 | increase over the 5 years prior to the finding of such |
| 25 | conditions; |
| 26 | (c) Faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, |
| 27 | accessibility, or usefulness; |
| 28 | (d) Unsanitary or unsafe conditions; |
| 29 | (e) Deterioration of site or other improvements; |
| 30 | (f) Inadequate and outdated building density patterns; |
| 31 | (g) Falling lease rates per square foot of office, |
| 32 | commercial, or industrial space compared to the remainder of the |
| 33 | county or municipality; |
| 34 | (h) Tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the |
| 35 | fair value of the land; |
| 36 | (i) Residential and commercial vacancy rates higher in the |
| 37 | area than in the remainder of the county or municipality; |
| 38 | (j) Incidence of crime in the area higher than in the |
| 39 | remainder of the county or municipality; |
| 40 | (k) Fire and emergency medical service calls to the area |
| 41 | proportionately higher than in the remainder of the county or |
| 42 | municipality; |
| 43 | (l) A greater number of violations of the Florida Building |
| 44 | Code in the area than the number of violations recorded in the |
| 45 | remainder of the county or municipality; |
| 46 | (m) Diversity of ownership or defective or unusual |
| 47 | conditions of title which prevent the free alienability of land |
| 48 | within the deteriorated or hazardous area; or |
| 49 | (n) Governmentally owned property with adverse |
| 50 | environmental conditions caused by a public or private entity. |
| 51 |
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| 52 | However, the term "blighted area" also means any area in which |
| 53 | at least one of the factors identified in paragraphs (a) through |
| 54 | (n) are present and all taxing authorities subject to s. |
| 55 | 163.387(2)(a) agree, either by interlocal agreement or |
| 56 | agreements with the agency or by resolution, that the area is |
| 57 | blighted. Such agreement or resolution shall only determine that |
| 58 | the area is blighted. For purposes of qualifying for the tax |
| 59 | credits authorized in chapter 220, "blighted area" means an area |
| 60 | as defined in this subsection. Also, the term "blighted area" |
| 61 | means land previously used as a military facility. |
| 62 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |