District DTS: everything by location consultation, except one house per property

It is Rule 6.1.13 of Chapter 6.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. District DTS is established to facilitate the siting of tourist and recreational projects where the landscape and natural conditions must be cared for. Unlike the chapter’s other districts, DTS publishes no figures for minimum lot area, minimum width, occupation or gross floor area: the location consultation sets them case by case, in light of the proposed development. Its use table lists what may be considered, not what is permitted outright, and the rule itself says so: they are uses "to be considered".

The rule applies to properties qualified DTS. Any proposed tourist development will be presented to and evaluated by the Junta Adjudicativa of OGPe or the Hierarchy I to III Autonomous Municipality by location consultation. In DTS districts sited within a Tourist Interest Zone approved by the Planning Board, only tourist uses, guest houses and tourist, ecotourism and agritourism installations are permitted, with the Tourism Company’s recommendation. In DTS districts that are not part of a ZIT designated by the Board, the uses of Table 6.57 and the planting of agricultural products and raising of animals with their retail stalls are considered. And the location-consultation exemption applies to the single-family dwelling, only one per principal property, provided it has the required basic infrastructure.

• Presenting any proposed tourist development to the Junta Adjudicativa of OGPe or the Hierarchy I to III Autonomous Municipality through the location consultation mechanism.Verified against the official source
• That the proposed development be in harmony with other existing uses in the place and not endanger the health, welfare and safety of present and future inhabitants.Verified against the official source
• That the proposed development not endanger the area’s ecological stability.Verified against the official source
• That infrastructure adequate to the proposed use be available or able to be provided.Verified against the official source
• That every building or structure observe a separation of six metres of front yard from the right-of-way easement of an existing or proposed road.Verified against the official source
• To rely on the location-consultation exemption: that it be a single single-family dwelling per principal property, with front yards no less than five metres, and that it have the required basic infrastructure.Verified against the official source
• For a retail stall selling produce harvested on the premises, in a DTS that is not part of a ZIT: that it be built no less than six metres from the boundary of the road’s public easement and have no more than one storey.Verified against the official source
• That the products for sale at that stall be the fruits harvested or produced in their natural form, directly on the land where the stall is to be established; meat will not be considered a product harvested on the premises.Verified against the official source

• Recommendation of the Tourism Company, for tourist uses, guest houses and tourist, ecotourism and agritourism installations in a DTS sited within a Tourist Interest Zone approved by the Planning Board.

1. 1

   Step 1: Why DTS is established

   Section 6.1.13.1 says it in four paragraphs. The district is established to facilitate the siting of tourist and recreational projects, subject to the availability of infrastructure in the area and where the landscape character and natural conditions of the place must be maintained. The proposed tourist developments must be in harmony with other existing uses in the place, not endanger the health, welfare and safety of present and future inhabitants, not endanger the area’s ecological stability, and infrastructure adequate to the proposed use must be available or able to be provided. And any development proposed in this district will be evaluated by the Junta Adjudicativa of OGPe or the Hierarchy I to III Autonomous Municipality.

2. 2

   Step 2: Everything goes through the location consultation

   Section 6.1.13.2 opens with the rule that governs the district: any tourist development proposed in this district will be presented to and evaluated by the Junta Adjudicativa or the Hierarchy I to III Autonomous Municipality through the location consultation mechanism, where the design parameters of each activity will be addressed in light of the particularities of the use proposed. That is: in DTS there is no ministerial counter for a tourist project. The parameters are discussed in the consultation.

3. 3

   Step 3: The house that needs no consultation

   There is one exception and it is concrete: the single-family dwelling is exempt from being presented by location consultation, only one per principal property, with parameters under the tables of Section 6.1.1.7 of this chapter, with front yards no less than five metres, provided it has the required basic infrastructure. That is four conditions at once: a single dwelling, a single principal property, a front yard of five metres or more, and basic infrastructure. A note on the source: the reference is to the tables of Section 6.1.1.7, which are the tables for lots smaller than the district requires, and DTS publishes no minimum area of its own. We report the reference as printed and do not infer a minimum lot size.

4. 4

   Step 4: Inside a Tourist Interest Zone

   Here is the distinction that most changes what may be done. DTS districts sited within a ZIT approved by the Planning Board: only tourist uses, guest houses, and tourist, ecotourism and agritourism installations are permitted, with the Tourism Company’s recommendation. It is a short, closed list. If the land is within an approved ZIT, the rest of the district’s use table does not apply.

5. 5

   Step 5: The uses to be considered

   Table 6.59 groups them in four columns, and the rule presents them as uses "to be considered", not as uses permitted outright. Guest houses: guest houses, paradores, condohotel, tourist villas, agro-lodges, eco-lodges, hotel and hostels. Services: services as defined in the regulation, travel agencies, restaurants, childcare centres, specialised lodgings, and car or equipment rental. Residential: single-family dwelling, dwelling at second-storey level, patio house, terraced house, apartment house, tiny houses, mobile home, bed and breakfast, and short-term supplementary lodging. And others: medical cannabis dispensary and cultivation as an accessory use, startups, retail sale and pharmacies.

6. 6

   Step 6: Outside a ZIT: the fruit stall

   For DTS districts that are not part of a ZIT designated by the Planning Board, the regulation opens another route. The uses to be considered must be compatible with the district’s purposes and with the rule’s provisions, and there are two: the uses to be considered under Table 6.57 — which is the C-T district’s use table, so cited in the text — and the planting of agricultural products and raising of animals, including stalls for the retail sale of the produce harvested on the premises. That stall has rules of its own: each stall will be built no less than six metres from the boundary of the road’s public easement and will have no more than one storey; the products for sale will be the fruits harvested or produced in their natural form, directly on the land where the stall is to be established; and meat will not be considered a product harvested on the premises.

7. 7

   Step 7: The parameter table with no figures

   Table 6.60 is the chapter’s shortest and the most honest about what it does. Segregations: will be established in the location consultation in accordance with the proposed use. Maximum occupation area in per cent: will be determined in light of the proposed development. Gross floor area in per cent: will be determined in light of the proposed development. And separations from the boundaries: every building or structure shall observe a separation of six metres of front yard from the right-of-way easement of an existing or proposed road. That last is the rule’s only fixed figure. The section further clarifies that the parameters must conform to Section 6.1.1.11 of the chapter and to the proposed development.

The location consultation is filed before the Junta Adjudicativa of OGPe or before the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III. The single-family dwelling relying on the exemption is processed as a construction permit, without a location consultation, provided it meets the four conditions the rule sets. The Tourism Company’s recommendation is requested from that corporation when the DTS lies within an approved Tourist Interest Zone. And the property’s qualification and whether or not it belongs to an approved ZIT are read on the Planning Board’s maps and designations.

• Looking in the rule for a minimum lot area, minimum width or fixed occupation percentage, when the district determines them in light of the proposed development.
• Assuming a tourist project in DTS can be processed ministerially, without a location consultation before the Junta Adjudicativa or the municipality.
• Not checking whether the property lies within a Tourist Interest Zone approved by the Planning Board.
• Proposing commercial or residential uses inside an approved ZIT, where only tourist uses, guest houses and tourist, ecotourism and agritourism installations are permitted.
• Omitting the Tourism Company’s recommendation in a DTS inside an approved ZIT.
• Relying on the consultation exemption for a second dwelling on the same principal property, when the exemption is for one only.
• Leaving that single-family dwelling’s front yard under five metres.
• Relying on the exemption without having the required basic infrastructure.
• Building a building or structure less than six metres from the right-of-way easement of an existing or proposed road.
• Erecting an agricultural sales stall less than six metres from the boundary of the road’s public easement.
• Building that stall with more than one storey.
• Selling at the stall products not harvested or produced in their natural form directly on that land.
• Selling meat at the stall, which the regulation does not consider a product harvested on the premises.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Junta de Planificación de Puerto Rico (JP)

  Junta de Planificación

  docs.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov