Title 24, Municipal and County Government

§ 2810. Petition; appointment of commissioners (a) When a person having an interest in such land is dissatisfied with the action of the mayor and aldermen, selectboard, or trustees in locating and setting it out or with the damages awarded therefor by them, he or she may apply by…

§ 2811. Commissioners’ notice, hearing, and report; Superior Court order (a) The commissioners shall give to such clerk and to the petitioners six days’ notice of the time and place of hearing. When they have completed their inquiries, they shall report to the court. (b) Upon hea…

§ 2812. Title to vest on payment of damages When the damages finally awarded are paid to the person entitled thereto, title to such lands or the right to damage or affect lands shall vest in such city, town, or village for such purposes.

§ 2813. Armories; appropriation A municipality may appropriate sums of money towards the purchase or construction of an armory for use of the National Guard.

§ 2931. Validation of certain commissions A regional planning commission in full compliance with sections 2919-2922 of this title on May 31, 1965 shall be a qualified regional planning commission under this chapter in all respects, except that it shall be limited to the financial…

§ 2932. Development Board; grants The Development Board may with the approval of the Governor award a grant to an incorporated economic development district organized either on an intrastate or interstate basis for the purpose of matching federal funds made available by the Econo…

§ 3028. Penalty (a) The legislative body of a municipality may provide by ordinance for the enforcement of this chapter and of any ordinance or regulation made hereunder, and may fix penalties of not more than $50.00 for each violation. Each day in which a violation exists shall …

§ 3101. Bylaws and ordinances; penalties (a) The mayor and board of aldermen of a city, the selectboard of a town, or the trustees of an incorporated village, may, in accordance with this chapter, establish codes and regulations for the construction, maintenance, repair, and alte…

§ 3102. Building inspectors (a) Upon the adoption of any codes, rules, or regulations as provided in section 3101 of this title, the mayor and board of aldermen of a city, the selectboard of a town, or the trustees of an incorporated village shall appoint and may remove a buildin…

§ 3103. Appointment; duties; powers Any such ordinance may be amended or supplemented following the procedure for adoption in section 3101 of this title. At least three copies of any ordinance, as amended or supplemented, shall be filed, as provided in section 3101 of this title,…

§ 3104. Examination by public At least 30 days before the adoption of any such ordinance or any amendment or supplement thereto, at least three copies of the code or regulation referred to in section 3101 of this title shall be filed in the office of the building inspector and th…

§ 3105. Public hearing; notice (a) No such ordinance or amendments or supplements may become effective or be altered until after a public hearing at which interested parties and citizens may be heard. (b) Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published in a newspap…

§ 3106. Report; prosecutions; injunctions A building inspector shall: (1) make a detailed report of his or her doings to the board of aldermen, selectboard, or trustees, as the case may be, at least once in six months, showing the number of certificates of permit granted, the num…

§ 3107. Certificate of permit; filing (a) Before the construction or alteration of a building, the owner, builder, or architect shall submit to the building inspector a comprehensive statement in writing of the material to be used and the mode of construction of the proposed buil…

§ 3108. Inspector’s duties The inspector shall daily examine the condition of buildings undergoing alteration or erection and serve notice in writing upon the builders, owners, or architects of such structures as he or she deems to be unsafe or insecure by reason of the mode and …

§ 3109. Appeals from orders When a person is aggrieved by an order of a building inspector, that person or the person’s architect or builder may appeal to a board of arbitrators appointed as provided in section 3110 of this title, or to the Criminal Division of the Superior Court…

§ 3110. Arbitrators; decision The board of arbitrators shall be composed of two disinterested persons, residents of the municipality, one of whom shall be appointed by the appellant and one by the building inspector. If such arbitrators cannot agree, a third member shall be chose…

§ 3111. Appeal; hearing; orders When an appeal is taken under the provisions of section 3109 of this title, the judge shall forthwith inquire into the facts himself or herself or by a committee appointed by him or her, and make such order as he or she deems proper in the premises…

§ 3112. Penalty A person who violates a provision of this chapter or willfully disobeys a written order of a building inspector shall be fined not more than $200.00, provided such order has not been set aside or modified by a court or by a board of arbitrators, or by an order or …

§ 3113. Unsafe building; notice A building inspector being informed that a structure or anything appurtenant thereto is unsafe shall inspect the same. If it appears to be unsafe, he or she shall forthwith notify, in writing, the owner, agent, or person having an interest therein …

§ 3114. Repair of unsafe structure Before 12:00 p.m. of the day following the service of such notice, a person notified as provided in section 3113 of this title shall commence to secure or remove such structure, and shall employ sufficient workers speedily to secure or remove it…

§ 3115. Refusal to obey order; survey; report When an owner, agent, or person interested in such unsafe structure refuses or neglects to comply with the requirements of such order within the time limited, a careful survey of the premises shall be made by a board consisting, in a …

§ 3116. Building taken down; penalty When such report declares such structure to be unsafe, and when the owner, agent, or person interested continues such refusal or neglect, the inspector shall cause it to be taken down or otherwise made safe. The costs and charges incurred shal…

§ 3117. Appeal from order An owner or person interested who is aggrieved by such order may appeal as provided in the case of a person aggrieved by an order of a building inspector. However, the provisions of this section shall not prevent the municipality from recovering the forf…

§ 3118. Notice to nonresident owner When the owner, agent, or person interested lives out of the State, notice may be served upon him or her by a proper officer, whose return of service shall be sufficient evidence thereof.

§ 3119. Powers of judge The presiding judge of the Superior Court may restrain the construction, alteration, maintenance, or use of a building or structure in violation of the provisions of an ordinance or bylaws of a municipality, and order its removal or abatement as a nuisance…

§ 3120. Severability If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstances is invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected. (Added 1967, No. 295 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. March…

§ 3201. Definitions The following terms wherever used or referred to in this chapter shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context: (1) “Agency” or “urban renewal agency” shall mean a public agency created by section 3220 of thi…

§ 3203. Findings and declarations of necessity (a) It is hereby found and declared that there exist in municipalities of the State slum and blighted areas, as herein defined, which constitute a serious and growing menace, injurious to the public health, safety, morals, and welfar…

§ 3204. Encouragement of private enterprise A municipality, 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 as a whole, to the rehabilitation …

§ 3205. Workable program A municipality for the purposes of this chapter may formulate for the municipality 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 …

§ 3206. Finding of necessity by local governing body No municipality shall exercise the authority hereafter conferred upon municipalities by this chapter until after it has voted by a majority of the voters present and voting on the question at a regular or special meeting duly w…

§ 3207. Preparation and approval of urban renewal projects and urban renewal plans (a) A municipality shall not approve an urban renewal project for an urban renewal area unless the governing body has, by resolution, determined such area to be a slum area or a blighted area or a …

§ 3208. Neighborhood and community-wide plans (a) A municipality or a planning commission may prepare a general neighborhood renewal plan for an urban renewal area, together with any adjoining areas having specially related problems, which may be of such scope that urban renewal …

§ 3209. Powers Every municipality shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of this chapter, including the following powers in addition to others herein granted: (1) to undertake and carry out urban renewal projects …

§ 3210. Eminent domain; authority; survey (a) A municipality shall have the right to acquire by condemnation a fee simple title or any other interest in real property which it may determine necessary for or in connection with an urban renewal project under this chapter. The power…

§ 3211. Determination of necessity (a) After completion of such survey, the municipality shall petition a Superior Court judge, setting forth therein that it proposes to take certain land or rights therein and describing such lands or rights, and the survey shall be annexed to th…

§ 3212. Determination of compensation; payment; proceeds from bonding (a) Following the final determination of the necessity of the taking, the municipality may proceed to acquire such lands. Whenever a municipality and an owner of land or rights agree as to the amount of compens…

§ 3213. Disposal of property in urban renewal area (a)(1) A municipality may sell, lease, or otherwise transfer real property or any interest therein acquired by it, and may enter into contracts with respect thereto, in an urban renewal area for residential, recreational, commerc…

§ 3214. Issuance of bonds (a) A municipality shall have power to issue bonds from time to time in its discretion to finance the undertaking of any urban renewal project under this chapter, including, without limiting the generality thereof, the payment of principal and interest u…

§ 3215. Bonds as legal investments All banks, trust companies, bankers, savings banks and institutions, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, investment companies, and other persons carrying on a banking or investment business; all insurance companies, in…

§ 3216. Property exempt from taxes and from levy and sale by virtue of an execution (a) All property of a municipality, including funds, owned or held by it for the purposes of this chapter shall be exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution, and no execution or other ju…

§ 3217. Cooperation by public bodies (a)(1) For the purpose of aiding in the planning, undertaking, or carrying out of an urban renewal project located within the area in which it is authorized to act, any public body may, upon such terms, with or without consideration, as it may…

§ 3218. Title of purchaser Any instrument executed by a municipality and purporting to convey any right, title, or interest in any property under this chapter shall be conclusively presumed to have been executed in compliance with the provisions of this chapter insofar as title o…

§ 3219. Exercise of powers in carrying out urban renewal project (a) A municipality may itself exercise its urban renewal project powers, as herein defined, or may, if the local governing body by resolution determines such action to be in the public interest, elect to have such p…

§ 3220. Urban renewal agency (a) There is hereby created in each municipality a public body corporate and politic to be known as the “urban renewal agency” of the municipality; provided, that such agency shall not transact any business or exercise its powers hereunder until or un…