(315 ILCS 20/17) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 267)

Sec. 17. Acquisition of property and construction subject to approval - Application for and issuance of certificates of convenience and necessity). No Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation shall acquire title to any Real Property, or any interest therein except by way of unexercised option, or institute any Development without making written application to the Redevelopment Commission for approval of the proposed Development Plan in the manner hereinafter prescribed, and without securing the certificate of convenience and necessity to be issued by the Redevelopment Commission upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned.

(1) The application of a Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation for approval of its proposed Development Plan shall contain:

(a) The legal description of the proposed Development Area and the description thereof by city blocks, street and number, if any.

(b) A statement of the character of the estates in Real Property to be acquired by the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation.

(c) A statement showing the present use of the Real Property in the proposed Development Area, the zoning restrictions, if any, thereon, and the private restrictions, if any, of record, and that no interest in Real Property in the proposed Development Area is to be acquired because of the race, color, creed, national origin or sex of any person owning or claiming an interest in that Real Property.

(d) A statement of the existing buildings or improvements in the Development Area, if any, which are to be demolished.

(e) A statement of the existing buildings or improvements, if any, in the Development Area which are not to be immediately demolished and the approximate period of time within which the demolition, if any, of each such building or improvement is to take place.

(f) A statement of the proposed improvements, if any, of each building, if any, not to be demolished immediately, and any proposed repairs or alterations of such buildings.

(g) A statement of the type, number and character of each new industrial, commercial, residential, public or other building or improvement to be erected or made.

(h) A metes and bounds description of that portion of the proposed Development Area to be devoted for a park, playground or recreation center for the use of the Development, the specific use to which such portion is to be put and the manner in which it shall be improved.

(i) A statement of those portions, if any, of the proposed Development Area (other than the portions to be devoted for a park, playground or recreation center for the use of the Development) to be left as open land area and the manner in which such portions, if any, shall be maintained.

(j) A statement of recommended changes, if any, in the zoning ordinances, necessary or desirable for the Development and its protection against blighting influences.

(k) A statement of recommended changes, if any, in streets or street levels and of recommended vacations, if any, of streets, alleys, or other public spaces.

(l) A statement in detail of the estimated Development Cost and of the proposed method of financing the Development, sufficient to give assurance that the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation will be able to complete and operate the Development.

(m) An estimate of the periods of time within which, after the approval of the Development Plan, the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation will be able to initiate and to complete its Development, excepting unexpected delays not caused by it.

(n) A statement of the character, approximate number of units, approximate rentals and approximate date of availability of the proposed dwelling accommodations, if any, to be furnished during construction and upon completion of the Development.

(o) Such other statements or material as the applicant Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation deems relevant, including recommendations for the Redevelopment of one or more areas contiguous to the proposed Development Area.

(2) No certificate of convenience and necessity shall be issued by the Redevelopment Commission upon application by a Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation except upon the fulfillment of the following conditions:

(a) That the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation has filed with the Redevelopment Commission a bond, in form and with surety or sureties satisfactory to the Redevelopment Commission, in the penal sum of ten per centum of the estimated Development Cost as set out in the application of the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation but in no event to exceed $10,000.00, payable to the city, village or incorporated town creating the Redevelopment Commission, the payment to be deposited in the general corporate fund of such city, village or incorporated town, the bond to be conditioned upon the initiation and completion of the Development within the respective time limits, or authorized extensions thereof, prescribed by the Redevelopment Commission.

(b) That the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation has agreed in writing to incorporate in its instruments of sale, conveyance, transfer, lease or assignment such restrictions as the Redevelopment Commission may by rule, pursuant to paragraph 1 of Section 25 of this Act, impose as to the type of construction, use, landscape and architectural design of the Development.

(c) That the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation, other than for or in a Conservation Area, has agreed in writing to devote as a minimum ten per centum of the Development Area for a park, playground or recreation center for the use of the Development (the site or sites for which shall be determined by the Redevelopment Commission), to provide adequate financial arrangements for defraying the upkeep thereof during its corporate existence, and to place thereon, in the manner prescribed by subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of this Section, such use restrictions as the Development Commission may by rule impose; Provided, that in determining the proportion of open land area required by any zoning ordinance compared to the land area used for building purposes, the portion so devoted for park, playground or recreation center shall be counted as open land area.

(d) That the Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation has agreed in writing that in selling, leasing and managing all Real Property subject to the plan there will be no discrimination against any person on account of race, color, creed, national origin or sex.

(e) That the Redevelopment Commission shall, after the public hearing provided by paragraph 1 of Section 18 of this Act, have made the determinations provided in paragraph 3 of this Section 17, either originally or after the application has been remanded upon judicial review.

(3) The Redevelopment Commission, before the issuance of the certificate of convenience and necessity to a Neighborhood Redevelopment Corporation, shall determine that:

(a) The Development Area is within an area which, under the conditions existing at the time, is a Slum and Blight or Conservation Area as defined by this Act and that no interest in Real Property in the proposed Development Area is to be acquired because of the race, color, creed, national origin or sex of any person owning or claiming any interest in that Real Property.

(b) The Redevelopment of the Development Area in accordance with the Development Plan is designed to effectuate the public purposes declared in Section 2 of this Act.

(c) The Development Plan conforms to the zoning ordinances, if any, applicable to the Development Area, and further conforms to the official plan of the city, village or incorporated town wherein the Development Area is located, or, in the absence of such an official plan, to the plan, if any, adopted by the Plan Commission, if any, of such city, village or incorporated town as evidenced by a report on such adopted plan prepared by such Plan Commission and on file with the Redevelopment Commission.

(d) Public facilities, including, but not limited to, fire and police protection, and recreation, are presently adequate, or will be adequate at the time that the Development is ready for use, to service the Development Area.

(e) The execution of the Development Plan will not cause undue hardship to the families, if any, occupying dwelling accommodations in the Development Area, to such a degree as to outweigh the public use defined in Section 2 of this Act to be achieved through the Redevelopment of such Development Area.

(f) The estimated Development Cost of the Development is sufficient for the proposed Redevelopment.

(g) Other than in or for a Conservation Area, no portion, greater by ten per centum in area, of the Development Area is designed by the Development Plan for use other than residential except in those instances wherein the Plan Commission, if any, of the city, village or incorporated town concerned, has filed with the Redevelopment Commission, pursuant to paragraph 1 of Section 18 of this Act, an advisory report recommending a greater portion by area than ten per centum, in which instances, no portion, greater than that so recommended, of the Development Area is designed by the Development Plan for use other than residential.

(h) The conditions prescribed by paragraph 2 of this Section have been fulfilled.

(4) No certificate of convenience and necessity shall be issued by a Redevelopment Commission in St. Clair County without the approval, by a majority vote, of the city council or the board of trustees of the village or incorporated town, as the case may be, in which the Development Area is located.

(Source: P.A. 93-1037, eff. 6-1-05.)