(a) The board shall authorize project funding under this chapter for the construction, in urban areas in which the construction of schools would ordinarily require the removal of residential, commercial, or industrial structures, of four elementary or junior high schools, or any combination thereof, none of which serve any of the grades 10 to 12, inclusive.
(b) The construction funded pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be designed to minimize the need for the relocation of inhabitants of residential, commercial, or industrial structures. The design features of the schools may include, but should not be limited to, the use of below-ground facility construction, multistory construction, multiuse construction where single-use construction currently exists, the joint use of facilities that otherwise involve such uses as a shopping center, office complex, or apartment building, the joint or dual use of land that otherwise involves park or other uses, overhead or underground parking, or the use of areas above or below streets or freeways.
(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 277, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1997. Operative January 1, 1998.)