57-12-2 - Declaration of policy. - Utah Statutes

57-12-2. Declaration of policy.
(1) It is hereby declared to be the policy of this chapter and of the state, and theLegislature recognizes:
(a) that it is often necessary for the various agencies of state and local government toacquire land by condemnation;
(b) that persons, businesses, and farms are often uprooted and displaced by such actionwhile being recompensed only for the value of land taken;
(c) that such displacement often works economic hardship on those least able to sufferthe added and uncompensated costs of moving, locating new homes, business sites, farms, andother costs of being relocated;
(d) that such added expenses should reasonably be included as a part of the project costand paid to those displaced;
(e) that the Congress of the United States has established matching grants for relocationassistance, and has also established uniform policies for land acquisition under the UniformRelocation Assistance and Land Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, 42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq., toassist the states in meeting these expenses and assuring that land is fairly acquired; and
(f) that it is in the public interest for the state to provide for such payments and toestablish such land acquisition policies.
(2) Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to establish a uniform policy for the fair andequitable treatment of persons displaced by the acquisition of real property by state and local landacquisition programs, by building code enforcement activities, or by a program of voluntaryrehabilitation of buildings or other improvements conducted pursuant to governmentalsupervision.
(3) All of the provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to put into effect theforegoing policies and purposes.

Amended by Chapter 306, 2007 General Session