For purposes of this chapter unless the context otherwise
requires:
"Abandoned building"
or"abandonment" means a building that meets either of the
following:
1. In the case of a building located within a city's limits,
a building that has remained vacant and has been in violation of the housing
code or building code of the city for a period of six consecutive
months.
2. In the case of a building located outside a city's limits,
a building that has remained vacant and has been in violation of the housing
code or building code applicable in the county in which the building is located
for a period of six consecutive months.
"Agreement" means a contract for financial
assistance under the program describing the terms on which the financial
assistance is to be provided.
"Applicant" means a city applying for
financial assistance under the program.
"Authority" means the economic development
authority created in Iowa Code section 15105..
"Building" means a structure located in a
city, or outside the limits of a city in a county, that is either:
1. Used or intended to be used for commercial or industrial
purposes; or
2. Used or intended to be used for residential purposes.
"Building" includes structures in which some floors may be used for retail
stores, shops, salesrooms, markets, or similar commercial uses, or for offices,
banks, civic administration activities, professional services, or similar
business or civic uses, and other floors are used, designed, or intended to be
used for residential purposes.
"Costs directly related" means expenditures
that are incurred for acquisition, demolition, disposal, redevelopment, or
rehabilitation of a project to the extent that they are attributable directly
to the remediation or redevelopment of the property or its improvements. "Costs
directly related" includes expenditures for site preparation work, surveying,
construction materials, construction labor, architectural services, engineering
services, building permits, building inspection fees, and interest accrued on a
construction loan during the time period allowed for project completion under
an agreement entered into pursuant to the program. "Costs directly related"
does not include expenditures for furnishings, appliances, accounting services,
legal services, loan origination and other financing costs, syndication fees
and related costs, developer fees, or the costs associated with selling or
renting the dwelling units whether incurred before or after completion of the
housing project.
"Director " means the director of the
authority.
"Financial assistance " means a loan or
forgivable loan made by the authority to an applicant approved for funding
under the program.
"Low- or moderate-income household" means a
household earning 80 percent or less of the applicable area median income, as
determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"Nuisance property " means a building,
structure, or other real estate that is, or is likely to become, a public
nuisance.
"Program" means the procedures, agreement,
terms, and assistance established and provided pursuant to this chapter.
"Project" means a proposed plan for the
remediation or redevelopment of nuisance and abandoned properties in a city.
"Project" may include properties at multiple sites and locations, whether
contiguous or not, as long as all properties to be remediated or redeveloped
are included in the proposed plan upon application and as long as the proposed
plan demonstrates the steps and actions necessary to further remediation and
redevelopment efforts in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.
"Public nuisance " means a building that is
a menace to the public health, welfare, or safety, or that is structurally
unsafe, unsanitary, or not provided with adequate safe egress, or that
constitutes a fire hazard, or is otherwise dangerous to human life, or that in
relation to the existing use constitutes a hazard to the public health,
welfare, or safety by reason of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation,
obsolescence, or abandonment. "Public nuisance" includes buildings with
blighting characteristics as defined by Iowa Code section 4032..
"Redevelopment" means development activities
associated with a project that are undertaken either for the purpose of
remediating nuisance or abandoned properties, for constructing new buildings or
improvements at a site where formerly existing buildings have been demolished,
or for rehabilitating, reusing or repurposing existing buildings or
improvements at a project site. "Redevelopment" typically includes projects
that result in the elimination of blighting characteristics as defined by Iowa
Code section 4032..
"Remediation " or"remediating
" means the demolition, disposal, removal, repair, improvement, or
rehabilitation of nuisance property or abandoned buildings at a site included
in a project.
