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It seems to me that most people would agree that any effective program to accomplish this desirable objective should provide for these three things:

First, prevention of the spread of blight into good areas of a community through adequate enforcement of housing standards and occupancy controls, and other appropriate local codes and regulations. Second, rehabilitation of areas of a community which still can be saved, converting them into sound, healthy neighborhoods by replanning, removing congestion, providing parks and playgrounds, reorganizing streets and traffic, and by facilitating physical rehabilitation of structures which, while deteriorated, are basically sound.

Third, demolition and clearance of slum and blighted areas which, otherwise, cannot be restored, and the redevelopment of such areas. The CHAIRMAN. I think you should add a fourth one there, too, and that is the elimination of smoke and smog. We will introduce an amendment to this bill, I hope, the latter part of next week, and 1 am hopeful that the people in St. Louis who have done such a wonderful job of eliminating smoke in St. Louis will come in and testify with respect to this matter. It isn't going to gain us much if we build these beautiful new houses and communities and then continue to have them deteriorated by smoke and smog. We will just have the same thing we have now, within a year or 2, 3, or 4 years. If the cities continue to permit this horrible nuisance, we will not accomplish the objective.

Our staff director, Mr. Donaldson, is meeting with the St. Louis officials who did such a good job in eliminating smoke in St. Louis, in order to get the factual information and experience they have, to enable us to properly write an amendment to this bill which will allow the Federal Government to help communities in this problem

of smoke.

Senator Sparkman, I am sure you agree with me that that should go hand in hand with this. Not only does it eliminate smoke, but it helps the people.

Senator SPARKMAN. It certainly contributes.

The CHAIRMAN. St. Louis has proven that you can eliminate smoke, and I think we ought to make it a part of this bill, with regard to the elimination of slums and blighted areas.

Mr. COLE. The present slum clearance and community redevelopment legislation permits assistance for an effective attack upon only the third of these three essential tasks. The broadened authorization provided by the bill is designed to permit assistance for an effective attack upon all three.

Briefly, the bill proposes an enlargement of the scope of a project eligible for Federal assistance in two respects:

First, the types of projects are enlarged so that they may include not only the slum pockets necessitating clearance, but also other neighborhoods or other areas which may be deteriorated, but are suitable for the application of rehabilitation and conservation measures.

Secondly, the scope of the project is increased by broadening the activities which may be financed through Federal aid to include those which are necessary for an effective rehabilitation and conservation program, as well as for a program of clearance and redevelopment.

The broadened authorization does not require that a project must hereafter include both clearance and redevelopment and conservation

and rehabilitation. It simply means that projects may involve either clearance and redevelopment, or conservation and rehabilitation, or a combination of both, according to the locality's determination as to what is required to meet its particular needs.

However, before any locality can obtain Federal assistance for any type of urban renewal project, it must have a workable program for dealing with the whole problem of urban slums and blight, including the rehabilitation of dwellings worth saving. I will discuss this workable program requirement more fully in the latter portion of my

statement.

The enlargement of the project area to cover an urban renewal area-which may be an entire neighborhood or a very large deteriorated area-results in an expansion of the site improvements and facilities required for the larger area. Streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other site improvements and public facilities, when undertaken by the local public agency in order to accomplish the urban renewal objectives, may be eligible under the Federal finance

contract.

The cost of additional facilities and activities which are required to make possible sound clearance and redevelopment, or neighborhood restoration and renewal, and which are provided by the local community in an urban renewal area will, of course, be included as gross project costs. Thus, for example, the gross project cost would include, in addition to costs in connection with planning and carrying out slum clearance and redevelopment as now authorized in the law, public expenditures in connection with:

1. Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan;

2. Acquisition of real property and demolition or removal of buildings and improvements, and disposition of property in the broader urban renewal area where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, eliminate obsolete or detrimental use, or to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration; and

3. Installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements in the urban renewal area which are necessary for carrying out the urban renewal plan. In many cases, rehabilitation of dwellings alone will not reestablish a deteriorated area as a sound neighborhood. Older, deteriorated neighborhoods frequently are characterized by the poor condition of their streets and alleys, the lack of adequate sewers, poor lighting, the almost complete lack of playgrounds, parks, or other open space, and by old and inadequate school buildings.

Parks, playgrounds, and other recreation areas are essential to the reestablishment and maintenance of healthy neighborhoods. Also, streets, alleys, sidewalks, street lights, and other improvements must be restored and rehabilitated to meet modern needs in order to achieve sound and lasting rehabilitation and conservation objectives. I have the feeling that it is inequitable for a city to call upon an owner to spend several thousand dollars rehabilitating his home if the city cannot assure that necessary action will also be taken to rehabilitate the streets and other public facilities in the neighborhood and to pro

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vide such other public improvements and facilities as are necessary to establish and maintain a desirable neighborhood.

The protection of the investment of a private owner in the rehabilitation of his home may, in large measure, be dependent upon appropriate public improvements to rehabilitate the area. Without this public investment, the city surely cannot induce the owner to spend more than what is required to meet bare, minimum standards which may fall far short of the level of rehabilitation which may be desirable.

The provision in the urban renewal area of public buildings or other public facilities, other than publicly owned housing, necessary for carrying out urban renewal objectives, may be included at their cost as noncash local grants-in-aid. It should be noted that no improvement or facility constructed outside the urban renewal project area can be eligible as a local grant-in-aid under the bill.

However, buildings and facilities in the project area may be eligible as local grants-in-aid. This is essential to facilitate the rejuvenation of urban areas. One illustration will suffice.

Antiquated and wholly inadequate school buildings contribute immeasurably to the rundown neighborhood conditions and would impede efforts to rehabilitate the neighborhoods in which they are located. The removal of the old structure and the construction of a new school building, as part of the rehabilitation program of a neighborhood, will enhance the livability of the entire neighborhood and give a positive lift to the renewal efforts.

Now, Mr. Chairman, if we may turn to page 30, I want to speak of the workable program.

The CHAIRMAN. Do you think it would be well to put in the record at this time exactly how this matter has been handled in the past and how it is handled at the moment?

Mr. COLE. We will do that, yes.

The CHAIRMAN. Would you prefer to do it by memorandum or will you do it now?

Mr. COLE. I think by insertion of a memorandum and statement. Of course, we will be glad to answer questions about the present operation of the slum clearance and urban development program but to have it clearly identified and carefully described, I think we would like to submit a statement.

The CHAIRMAN. If you will have someone prepare that, we will place it in the record at this point, exactly how this matter has been handled in the past.

Senator SPARKMAN. Will that include the procedure by which the project is set up?

Mr. COLE. Yes, we can do that, Senator. I think that would be helpful.

(The information requested follows:)

COMPARISON OF PROPOSED PROGRAM UNDER S. 2938 WITH PROGRAM UNDER EXISTING PROVISIONS OF TITLE I OF HOUSING ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED

The proposed title IV in S. 2938 is intended to broaden the scope of the title I program by authorizing Federal assistance for an expanded type of project which may encompass not only slum clearance of the type presently eligible under the existing provisions of law but also rehabilitation and conservation measures to eliminate and prevent the spread of slums and blight. Basically, what is involved in the proposed legislation is a broadening of the geographical area of a project to cover more than the area to be cleared through the demolition of the

structures therein, perhaps an entire neighborhood, and an augmentation of the activities which may be financed as project costs.

The enlargement of the project area will result in an expanded need for site improvements to cover the larger urban renewal area. Thus, Federal aid for the construction of a needed street improvement, which under the existing law would be confined solely to the slum clearance area, may be extended under the proposed legislation to the confines of the urban renewal area. Moreover, the proposed legislation provides for some expansion in the type of facilities which are eligible as site improvements. Under the proposed legislation (in addition to streets and utilities), parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban renewal objectives of the Federal law in accordance with the urban renewal plan constitute eligible site improvements. The existing law permits as eligible site improvements "streets, utilities, and other site improvements essential to the preparation of sites for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan.”

The repeal of the proviso in the First Independent Offices Appropriation Act, 1954, pertaining to code enforcement and rehabilitation is provided for in the bill because appropriate provisions are otherwise included in the bill to carry out the objectives of such proviso. Under title IV of the proposed Housing Act of 1954 provisions are included requiring the Administrator to consider, in entering into any contract for advances for surveys, plans and other preliminary work, the extent to which appropriate local public bodies have undertaken positive programs for preventing the spread or recurrence of slums and blighted areas by the adoption, modernization, administration, and enforcement of housing, zoning, building, and other local laws, codes, and regulations relating to land use and adequate standards of health, sanitation, and safety for dwellings, including the use and occupancy of dwellings. In addition, it is provided in the proposed amendments to title I of the Housing Act of 1949 that no contract shall be entered into for any loan or capital grant unless there is presented to the Administrator a workable program for utilizing appropriate private and public resources to eliminate and prevent the development or spread of slums and urban blight, to encourage needed urban rehabilitation, to provide for the redevelopment of blighted, deteriorated or slum areas, and to undertake other community activities to achieve the objectives of such program. Furthermore, the expansion of the program to cover urban renewal projects involving rehabilitation and conservation activities is intended to emphasize the desirability wherever feasible of achieving slum clearance objectives through the rehabilitation of existing dwellings and areas.

There is no change contemplated in the proposed legislation with respect to the security for loans and advances. Under the existing law, loans may be made to local communities for the undertaking of projects "for the assembly, clearance, preparation, and sale and lease of land for redevolpment” in order to assist them in eliminating their slums and blighted areas and in providing maximum opportunity for the redevelopment of project areas by private enterprise. The proposed amendment of the existing law authorizes the making of loans for the undertaking of “urban renewal projects" in order to assist local communities in the elimination of slums and blighted or deteriorated or deteriorating areas, in preventing the spread of slums, blight or deterioration, and in providing maximum opportunity for the redevlopment, rehabilitation, and conservation of such areas by private enterprise. Thus, the purpose for which loans may be made is proposed to be enlarged to the same extent as the increase in the scope of the project to encompass urban renewal activities. Loan funds may thus, under the proposed amendments of title I, be used for all the purposes for which loans under the existing provisions of law may be used and in addition for rehabilitation or conservation activities in an urban renewal area, including the carrying out of plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan, the acquisition of real property and the demolition or removal of buildings and improvements thereon where necessary to eliminate unhealthful, insanitary, or unsafe conditions, lessen density, eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, or to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration. It is specifically provided in the proposed legislation that an urban renewal project for which Federal aid may be provided shall not include either the construction or the improvement of any building. Under the existing law, advances may be made for surveys and plans in preparation of projects which may be financed with title I funds. The proposed

amendments to title I enlarge the scope of advances to authorize advances for surveys and plans for urban renewal projects which may be assisted under the amended title I, including the preparation of plans for carrying out a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, plans for the enforcement of State and local laws, codes and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal of buildings and improvements. In addition, under the proposed amendments, advances may be used for the making of appraisals, title searches, and other preliminary work which is necessary to prepare for the acquisition of land in connection with the undertaking of an urban renewal project.

The provision in section 414 of the bill providing for an authorization of $5 million is intended to assist the development of pilot projects of effective local action for the elimination and prevention of the spread of slums and blight. This is a provision not now in the existing law. The establishment of demonstration projects for the purpose of deevloping, testing, and reporting the results of slum prevention and blight elimination methods and techniques should prove fruitful in accelerating and facilitating the urban renewal program and in achieving substantial economies.

Another new provision in title IV of S. 2938 is that authorizing the establishment of an urban renewal service to assist local communities in their urban renewal programs.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS IN TITLE IV OF S. 2938 FOR ADVANCES, TEMPORARY LOANS, AND CAPITAL GRANTS

Advances

Advances are available for surveys and plans for urban renewal projects, including, but not limited to

(a) Surveys of the area to ascertain the nature and degree of blight and deterioration, the character of existing uses, the number of persons residing in the area, the type and condition of the area and the structures therein, and other pertinent aspects of an urban renewal project.

(b) The preparation of an urban renewal plan, including a redevelopment plan for the portion of the area to be redeveloped, financing plans, relocation plans, land acquisition plans, land disposition plans, demolition, removal, site clearance, site preparation, and other similar plans.

(c) Plans for carrying out a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements in the urban renewal area.

(d) Plans for the enforcement of State and local laws, codes and regulations, relating to the use of land and occupancy of buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal of buildings and improvements in the urban renewal area.

(e) Appraisals, title searches, and other preliminary work necessary to prepare for the acquisition of land in connection with the undertaking of such projects. Temporary loans

Temporary loans are available for

(a) The repayment of advances, with interest;

(b) The acquisition of real property;

(c) Demolition, removal, and site clearance work;

(d) Installation, construction or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban renewal objectives of title I in accordance with the urban renewal plan;

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

(f) Carrying out plans for a program of voluntary repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements in accordance with the urban renewal plan. Capital grants

Capital grants may be made available to assist local public agencies in carrying out urban renewal projects except that no capital grant can be made for an open land project. The capital grant with respect to any individual project shall not exceed the difference between the net project cost and the local grantsin-aid actually made with respect to the project and the aggregate of the capital grants with respect to all the projects of a local public agency on which contracts

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