As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) "Agency" or "urban redevelopment agency" means a public agency created by Code Section 36-61-18.

(2) "Area of operation" means the area within the corporate limits of the municipality or county and the area within five miles of such limits, except that it shall not include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of another incorporated municipality or another county unless a resolution is adopted by the governing body of such other municipality or county declaring a need therefor.

(3) "Board" or "commission" means a board, commission, department, division, office, body, or other unit of the municipality or county.

(4) "Bonds" means any bonds (including refunding bonds), notes, interim certificates, certificates of indebtedness, debentures, or other obligations.

(5) "Clerk" means the clerk or other official of the municipality or county who is the custodian of the official records of such municipality or county.

(6) "County" means any county in this state.

(7) "Downtown development authority" means an authority created pursuant to Chapter 42 of this title.

(8) "Federal government" means the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America.

(9) "Housing authority" means a housing authority created by and established pursuant to Article 1 of Chapter 3 of Title 8, the "Housing Authorities Law."

(10) "Local governing body" means the council or other legislative body charged with governing the municipality and the board of commissioners or governing authority of the county.

(11) "Mayor" means the mayor of a municipality or other officer or body having the duties customarily imposed upon the executive head of a municipality.

(12) "Municipality" means any incorporated city or town in the state.

(13) "Obligee" includes any bondholder, agents, or trustees for any bondholders, or any lessor demising to the municipality or county property used in connection with an urban redevelopment project, or any assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof, and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with the municipality or county.

(14) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or body politic and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a similar representative capacity.

(15) "Public body" means the state or any municipality, county, board, commission, authority, district, housing authority, urban redevelopment agency, or other subdivision or public body of the state.

(16) "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon and property of any nature appurtenant thereto or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest, right, and use, legal or equitable, therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.

(17) "Rehabilitation" or "conservation" may include the restoration and redevelopment of a slum area or portion thereof, in accordance with an urban redevelopment plan, by:

(A) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements;

(B) Acquisition of real property and rehabilitation or demolition and removal of buildings and improvements thereon where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, to lessen density, to reduce traffic hazards, to eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of slums or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities;

(C) Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban redevelopment provisions of this chapter; and

(D) The disposition of any property acquired in such urban redevelopment area, including sale, initial leasing or retention by the municipality or county itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban redevelopment plan.

(18) "Slum area" means an area in which 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; 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 the public health, safety, morals, or welfare. "Slum area" also means an area which by reason of the presence of a substantial number of slum, 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; deterioration of site or other improvements; tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land; the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes; by having development impaired by airport or transportation noise or by other environmental hazards; or any combination of such factors substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipality or county, retards the provisions 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.

(19) "Slum clearance and redevelopment" may include:

(A) Acquisition of a slum area or portion thereof;

(B) Rehabilitation or demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;

(C) Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban redevelopment provisions of this chapter in accordance with the urban redevelopment plan; and

(D) Making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies (including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality or county itself) at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban redevelopment plan.

(20) "Urban redevelopment area" means a slum area which the local governing body designates as appropriate for an urban redevelopment project.

(21) "Urban redevelopment plan" means a plan, as it exists from time to time, for an urban redevelopment project, which plan shall:

(A) Conform to the general plan for the municipality or county as a whole; and

(B) 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 urban redevelopment area; 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.

(22) "Urban redevelopment project" may include undertakings or activities of a municipality or county in an urban redevelopment area for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of slums and may involve slum clearance and redevelopment in an urban redevelopment area, rehabilitation or conservation in an urban redevelopment area, or any combination or part thereof, in accordance with an urban redevelopment plan. Although the power of eminent domain may not be exercised for such purposes, such undertakings or activities may include:

(A) Acquisition, without regard to any requirement that the area be a slum or blighted area, of air rights in an area consisting of lands and highways, railway or subway tracks, bridge or tunnel entrances, or other similar facilities which have a blighting influence on the surrounding area and over which air rights sites are to be developed for the elimination of such blighting influences and for the provision of housing and related facilities and uses designed for, and limited primarily to, families and individuals of low or moderate income; and

(B) Construction of foundations and platforms necessary for the provision of air rights sites of housing and related facilities and uses designed for, and limited primarily to, families and individuals of low or moderate income or construction of foundations necessary for the provision of air rights sites for development of nonresidential facilities.