(1) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that among the many causes of deterioration in the business and residential neighborhoods of the state are the following: proliferation of crime, automobile traffic flow strangled by outmoded street patterns, unsuitable topography, faulty lot layouts, fragmentation of land uses and parking areas necessitating frequent automobile movement, lack of separation of pedestrian areas from automobile traffic, lack of separation of vehicle traffic lanes and railroad traffic, and excessive noise levels from automobile traffic.
(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that safe neighborhoods are the product of planning and implementation of appropriate environmental design concepts, comprehensive crime prevention programs, land use recommendations, and beautification techniques.
(3) The Legislature further finds and declares that the provisions of this part and the powers granted to local governments, property owners’ associations, special dependent districts, and community redevelopment neighborhood improvement districts are desirable to guide and accomplish the coordinated, balanced, and harmonious development of safe neighborhoods; to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of these areas and their inhabitants, visitors, property owners, and workers; to establish, maintain, and preserve property values and preserve and foster the development of attractive neighborhood and business environments; to prevent overcrowding and congestion; to improve or redirect automobile traffic and provide pedestrian safety; to reduce crime rates and the opportunities for the commission of crime; and to provide improvements in neighborhoods so they are defensible against crime.
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to assist local governments in implementing plans that employ crime prevention through community policing innovations, environmental design, environmental security, and defensible space techniques to establish safe neighborhoods. The Legislature, therefore, declares that the development, redevelopment, preservation, and revitalization of neighborhoods in this state, and all the purposes of this part, are public purposes for which public money may be borrowed, expended, loaned, and granted.
History.—s. 56, ch. 87-243; s. 2, ch. 91-86; s. 11, ch. 98-314.