Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 24, § 4001 (2026)

§ 4001. Declaration of policy

It is hereby declared:

(1) That there exists in the State unsanitary or unsafe dwelling accommodations and that persons of low income are forced to reside in such unsanitary or unsafe accommodations; that within the State there is a shortage of safe or sanitary dwelling accommodations available at rents that persons of low income can afford and that such persons are forced to occupy overcrowded and congested dwelling accommodations; that the aforesaid conditions cause an increase in and spread of disease and crime and constitute a menace to the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the residents of the State of Vermont and impair economic value; that these conditions necessitate excessive and disproportionate expenditures of public funds for crime prevention and punishment, public health and safety, fire and accident protection, and other public services and facilities.

(2) That these slum areas cannot be cleared, nor can the shortage of safe and sanitary dwellings for persons of low income be relieved through the operation of private enterprise and that the construction of housing projects for persons of low income, as defined in section 4002 of this chapter, would therefore not be competitive with the private enterprise.

(3) That the clearance, replanning, and reconstruction of the areas in which unsanitary or unsafe housing conditions exist and the providing of safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations for persons of low income are public uses and purposes for which public money may be spent and private property acquired.

(4) That substandard and decadent areas exist in certain portions of the State of Vermont and that there is not, in certain parts of the State, an adequate supply of decent, safe, and sanitary housing for persons of low income or elders of low income, or both available for rents that the persons can afford to pay, and the rents that the persons can afford to pay would not warrant private enterprise in providing housing for the persons; that this situation tends to cause an increase and spread of communicable and chronic disease; that the lack of properly constructed dwelling units designed specifically to meet the needs of elders aggravate those diseases peculiar to elders, thereby crowding the hospitals of the State with elders under conditions of neglect that inevitably exacerbate mental deterioration; that this situation constitutes a menace to the health, safety, welfare, and comfort of the inhabitants of the State and is detrimental to property values in the localities in which it exists; that this situation cannot readily be remedied by the private enterprise and that a public exigency exists that makes the provision of housing for elders of low income and the clearance of substandard and decadent areas a public necessity; that the provision of housing for elders of low income for the purpose of reducing the cost to the State of their care by promoting their health and welfare, thereby prolonging their productivity in the interest of the State and nation and the clearance of substandard and decadent areas is declared to be a public use for which private property may be taken by eminent domain and public funds raised by taxation may be expended, and the necessity in the public interest for provisions hereinafter enacted, is hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination. (Added 1961, No. 212, § 2, eff. July 11, 1961; amended 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 156.)