2013 Code of Alabama
Title 11 - COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
Title 3 - PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO COUNTIES AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
Section 11-99-1 - Legislative findings and declarations.

Section 11-99-1Legislative findings and declarations.

(a) Act 2013-51 shall be known and may be cited as the Major 21st Century Manufacturing Zone Act.

(b)(1) It is hereby found and declared that there exist in municipalities and counties of the state blighted or economically distressed areas which constitute a serious and growing problem, injurious 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, constitutes an economic and social liability imposing onerous burdens which decrease the tax base and reduce tax revenues, substantially impairs or arrests sound growth, retards the provision of housing accommodations, aggravates traffic problems, and substantially hampers the elimination of traffic hazards and the improvement of traffic facilities; and that the prevention and elimination of slums and blighted areas and economically distressed areas is a matter of state policy and state concern in order that the state and its municipalities and counties shall not continue to be endangered by areas which are focal centers of disease, promote juvenile delinquency, and consume an excessive proportion of public revenues because of the extra services required for police, fire, accident, hospitalization, and other forms of public protection, services, and facilities.

(2) It is further found and declared that certain blighted and economically distressed areas or portions thereof may require acquisition, clearance, and disposition subject to use restrictions, as provided in this chapter, since the prevailing condition of blight and economic distress may make impracticable the reclamation of the area by conservation or rehabilitation; that 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 may be eliminated, remedied, or prevented; and that salvageable blighted and economically distressed areas can be conserved and rehabilitated through appropriate public action as herein authorized and the cooperation and voluntary action of the owners and tenants of property in such areas.

(3) It is further found and declared that there exist in municipalities and counties of the state underutilized real and personal property in enhanced use lease areas which, when leased by a secretary of a military department for cash or in-kind consideration, enhances the public benefit and welfare by, among other things, promoting local economic development and the stimulation of the local economy, increasing job opportunities, creating additional tax revenues, and enhancing the public's overall quality of life.

(4) It is further found and declared that there exist in municipalities and counties of the state underutilized large tracts of real property suitable for the location of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities which, when serving as the site therefor, enhances the public benefit and welfare by, among other things, facilitating the creation of skilled manufacturing jobs, promoting local economic development and the stimulation of the local economy, creating additional tax revenues, and enhancing the public's overall quality of life.

(5) It is further found and declared that the powers conferred by this chapter are for public and, in the case of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities, private uses and purposes imbued with a public interest and for which public money may be expended, either directly or indirectly, in the case of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities, and police power exercised, and the necessity in the public interest for the provisions herein enacted is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination.

(c) The Legislature makes the following findings:

(1) It is in the best interest of the state to ensure the location and expansion of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities in this state.

(2) The presence and expansion of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities in this state is of substantial benefit to and enhances the public welfare of the state by, among other things, promoting local economic development and the stimulus of local economies, increasing skilled job opportunities, creating additional tax revenues, and enhancing the public's overall quality of life.

(3) The growth and enhanced prosperity of municipalities and counties of the state, as well as of the state at large, as a result of the presence and expansion of automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities in this state often requires the infusion of capital, improved, and expanded public infrastructure dedicated to such facilities, and the provision, for the benefit thereof, of capital improvements to existing facilities as well as the provision of buildings and structures suitable for use as part of or in connection with automotive, automotive-industry related, aviation, aviation-industry related, medical, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, computer, electronics, energy conservation, cyber technology, and biomedical industry manufacturing facilities.

(4) The provision of such capital, public infrastructure improvements, and capital improvements constitutes an important public purpose vital to the welfare and prosperity of the citizens of this state.

(Acts 1987, No. 87-824, p. 1660, §1; Act 2010-184, p. 262, §3; Act 2013-51, §§1-3; Act 2013-424, §1.)