It is found and declared that there exist in localities throughout the State slum and blighted areas (as defined in § 4501 of this title) which constitute a serious and growing menace, injurious and inimical to the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the State; that the existence of such areas contributes substantially and increasingly to the spread of disease and crime, necessitating excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for the preservation of the public health and safety, for crime prevention, correction, prosecution, punishment and the treatment of juvenile delinquency and for the maintenance of adequate police, fire and accident protection and other public services and facilities, constitutes an economic and social liability, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of communities and retards the provision of housing accommodations; that this menace is beyond remedy and control solely by regulatory process in the exercise of the police power and cannot be dealt with effectively by the ordinary operations of private enterprise without the aids provided in this chapter; that the elimination of slum conditions or conditions of blight, the acquisition and preparation of land in or necessary to the development of slum or blighted areas and its sale or lease for development or redevelopment in accordance with general plans and redevelopment plans of communities and any assistance which may be given by any state public body in connection therewith are public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and private property acquired; and that the necessity in the public interest for the provisions enacted in this chapter is declared as a matter of legislative determination. It is found and declared that: (1) There exists in communities of this State blighted and deteriorated areas which constitute a serious and growing menace, injurious to the public health, safety, morals and welfare of the residents of the State, and the findings and declarations made in this section prior to December 27, 1965, are affirmed and restated, (2) Certain blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas, or portions thereof, may require acquisition and clearance, as provided in this chapter, since the prevailing condition of decay may make impracticable the reclamation of the area by conservation or rehabilitation, but other areas or portions thereof may, through the means provided in this chapter, be susceptible of conservation or rehabilitation in such a manner that the conditions and evils enumerated in this section may be eliminated, remedied or prevented, and to the extent feasible, salvable blighted, deteriorated, or deteriorating areas should be conserved and rehabilitated through voluntary action and the regulatory process, and (3) All powers conferred by this chapter, as amended, are for public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and such other powers exercised, and the necessity in the public interest for the provisions of this chapter is declared as a matter of legislative determination. A municipality or community to the greatest extent it determines to be feasible in carrying out the provisions of this chapter shall afford maximum opportunity, consistent with the sound needs of the municipality or community as a whole, to the conservation or rehabilitation or redevelopment of areas by private enterprise.
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