Alternatives to Redevelopment In deciding whether or not to choose redevelopment, a municipality must seriously consider if it is necessary to unleash the substantial powers that the LHRL provides municipalities. These broad municipal powers include the ability to: acquire private property through eminent domain and convey it to a redeveloper; convey publicly owned land to a designated redeveloper without public bid; compel the relocation of utilities; issue bonds; and participate in the financing of redevelopment projects. Successful redevelopment efforts also may require a significant amount of time and municipal resources. Thus, it may be prudent to explore other options before committing to the redevelopment process. What are the alternatives to redevelopment? Enhanced zoning controls. Administrative or regulatory obstacles may be preventing the private real estate market from investing in an area. For example, existing zoning may be incompatible with land uses in the area, requiring applicants to go through the time and expense of acquiring use variances to undertake property improvements or expansion. Changing the permitted uses in an area or establishing conditional use requirements may solve the problem. If the problem is haphazard development with less than desirable buildings and improvements, the solution may be to adopt more stringent zoning controls or design standards to produce more aesthetically pleasing projects. Optional design standards. If an area has a poor visual appearance or aesthetic image, a municipality might consider the use of new design standards for development projects that require site plan or subdivision approval. A municipality also might offer incentives to those developers who incorporate higher quality aesthetic improvements in their projects or property owners who upgrade and improve the appearance of their properties. Overlay districts. Overlay zoning may be used as an alternative to redevelopment or in concert with redevelopment. An overlay zone or ordinance does not change the underlying zoning for a property, but provides developers with an optional approach to development if certain specified conditions are met, such as meeting a minimum tract size. The overlay option can be designed to provide density bonuses or other incentives to the developer in exchange for meeting performance standards, such as infrastructure improvements, the incorporation of specific design features into the development, or the provision of affordable housing. Because it is optional, however, overlay zoning does not guarantee that an area will be developed in accordance with the provisions of the overlay option. Financial incentives. While long-term property-tax exemptions are allowed only in redevelopment areas or in Urban Enterprise Zones, other financial incentives not specifically tied to redevelopment areas may be a catalyst for revitalization. Income-tax credits, for example, may be available for redevelopment projects that provide affordable housing or that involve the rehabilitation of historic buildings. State programs, such as the Urban Home Ownership Recovery Program (UHORP), provide a variety of subsidies to encourage the construction of new affordable ownership housing in urban areas. Because program requirements may change, some programs may be eliminated, and new programs may become available, the municipality should always check the availability and qualifying criteria of current state programs. Use of rehabilitation powers. When it is not necessary to acquire and assemble properties, an area-in-need-of-rehabilitation designation may be an appropriate alternative to a redevelopment-area designation. An area is in need of rehabilitation when most of its existing properties or infrastructure are fifty or more years old and suffering from disinvestment, or where the municipality has had to foreclose for tax delinquency. A municipality may exercise all of the powers of redevelopment within an area in need of rehabilitation with the exception that it cannot use eminent domain to acquire land. The rehabilitation designation also allows the municipality to offer short-term (five-year) property tax abatements or exemptions. UEZs and SIDs. Urban Enterprise Zones provide a variety of economic development incentives for those municipalities with a UEZ approved by the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority. Special and/or Business Improvement Districts (SIDs or BIDs) also are used by a growing number of municipalities to organize downtown business districts and even older industrial areas (such as in Paterson and Irvington). In these districts, municipalities may assess a property-tax surcharge (known as a special assessment) to fund public improvements, special services, and professional management fees, etc. UEZs and SIDs may be combined or used in concert with redevelopment to maximize their overall impact.