Master Plan: how it is filed, adopted and how long it lasts

It is Chapter 7.2 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, adopted under Articles 11 and 14 of Ley No. 75. The Planning Board is empowered to prepare and adopt Land Use Plans under Ley 550-2004 and to make land use determinations within Puerto Rico’s territorial limits. The chapter establishes the applicable planning guidelines and standards governing the procedures for preparing and filing a Master Plan.

The documents for consideration of a Master Plan must be filed by the government entities concerned or by the private entity interested in preparing it. Reliable evidence must be included that the government entity, private entity or interested promoter is owner, optionee or lessee duly authorised by the property owner — a deed of acquisition, purchase option contract or registry certification identifying the owner. If they are not the owners, they must submit evidence of having notified the intention to the owners of the parcels in that geographic demarcation. In inheritance cases a Declaratoria de Herederos is filed; for a corporation, a corporate resolution duly registered with the Department of State. And where there is more than one owner, evidence must be submitted that all authorise the proposed action, unless all delegate to a single person by sworn statement or other legal document.

• Filing the initial document with its twelve contents and waiting for the Board to find it adequate and authorise proceeding to the next stage or phase.Verified against the official source
• Using the population projections prepared by the Planning Board; and if they must be modified, distributed to smaller geographic areas or extended over longer periods, obtaining the Board’s endorsement of the methodology before carrying out the analysis.Verified against the official source
• Including reliable evidence of being owner, optionee or lessee duly authorised by the owner; and if not, evidence of having notified the intention to the owners of the parcels in that geographic demarcation.Verified against the official source
• Complying with the Environmental Public Policy Act, Ley 416-2004, before approval, by way of a DECA categorical exclusion certification.Verified against the official source
• Discussing and justifying compliance with Planning Regulations 21 and 22, and stating the availability, programming, existing capacity and improvements of the site’s physical and social infrastructure.Verified against the official source
• For commercial projects: justifying the proposed square footage considering the project type, the uses, intensities and densities, the net sales area, how it harmonises with the adopted Land Use Plan, and how the public benefits.Verified against the official source

• Explanatory Memorial.
• A study of existing and predominant uses of the sector proposed for intervention.
• A graphic representation including all components, densities, land areas, infrastructure installation or improvements, accesses, parking and proposed streets, among others.
• Compliance with Rule 7.5.4 on filing qualification maps and geodata.
• A certified or notarised deed of the land, and the owner’s or titleholder’s express authorisation to take steps.
• A recent photograph of the land and the sector, and delimitation of the polygon in NAD83.
• Specialised studies on any condition of the land, such as geotechnical, hydrology, soils, traffic, noise and environmental.
• A social and economic analysis of the area the Master Plan will serve, and agency recommendations, if any.
• An Evaluation Certification sealed by a Licensed Professional, under Rule 7.1.2.

1. 1

   Step 1: What a Master Plan is

   The regulation describes it carefully. This special plan is used to delimit and plan the development of a particular area in the short and medium term. It is a planning document serving as a guide to promote a vision and a frame of reference for directing the development of a specific area or parcel of land. It is composed of an idea or concept of the development sought, a memorial including its components, the management stages or phases, the implementation strategies and a follow-up stage. And it contains strategies to organise the physical territory, in a design proposal taking into account the land classifications and qualifications in force.

2. 2

   Step 2: The initial document and its twelve contents

   The initial filing document before the Board, besides stating the objectives it pursues, must contain twelve things. A letter of intent justifying in detail the making of the Master Plan, discussing the statement of objectives and the proposed work plan. A general analysis of the condition aspired to for a particular geographic area. The needs that condition responds to. A graphic description of the sector to be intervened and thematic maps. An explanation of why there is a public or private interest in preparing the plan. The objectives and public policies it responds to, using the Puerto Rico Land Use Plan document as a guide. Matters of sustainable development, road and pedestrian accessibility, sustainable architecture, green infrastructure, eco-efficiency, resilient development, risk mitigation, balanced development of uses and strengthening of the area’s economic, social and physical structure and its relation to the surroundings. The conformity of the proposed objectives with the public policy for that geographic area so far as it has been studied or adopted. An inventory of the existing condition in the characteristics relevant to the objectives. An analysis of past trends in the relevant elements. Future projections of the relevant variables. And identification, on a qualification or cadastral map, of the area under study and the proposed uses.

3. 3

   Step 3: The population projections are the Board’s

   Within that list there is an express warning not to overlook: the population projections to be used are those prepared by the Planning Board. And if it becomes necessary to modify them, distribute them to smaller geographic areas or extend them over longer periods, the methodology must be endorsed by the Board before the analysis is carried out. It is not a figure the proponent picks: it is an official input, and changing it requires permission before use.

4. 4

   Step 4: The Board decides whether you go on

   The process has a gate before the formal filing. If the initial documentation submitted by the interested party is not in conformity, the documents must be revised to align them with the Board’s recommendations. And if the Board finds them adequate, it notifies the government entity concerned or the private promoter, at the same time authorising them to proceed to the next stage or phase of the process.

5. 5

   Step 5: The twelve filing requirements

   Every Master Plan is filed with an explanatory memorial; a study of existing and predominant uses of the sector proposed for intervention; a graphic representation including all components, densities, land areas, infrastructure installation or improvements, accesses, parking and proposed streets; compliance with Rule 7.5.4 on filing qualification maps and geodata; a certified or notarised deed of the land; the owner’s or titleholder’s express authorisation to take steps; a recent photograph of the land and the sector; delimitation of the polygon in NAD83; specialised studies on any condition of the land, such as geotechnical, hydrology, soils, traffic, noise and environmental; a social and economic analysis of the area to be served; agency recommendations, if any; and an evaluation certification sealed by a licensed professional under Rule 7.1.2.

6. 6

   Step 6: Where it is filed and from when it counts

   The documents must be filed through the Board’s Digital File System or in person at the Secretary Office, by the government entities concerned or by the private entity interested. And there is a counting rule: the Master Plan’s filing date is, for all legal purposes, the date it is received at the Board. The requirements in the corresponding instruction sheet must also be met, and the Board may request any other information it determines necessary to analyse the specific Master Plan.

7. 7

   Step 7: If you are not the landowner

   The regulation tightens here. Reliable evidence must be included that the government entity, private entity or interested promoter is owner, optionee or lessee duly authorised by the property owner — a deed of acquisition, purchase option contract or registry certification identifying the landowner. If they are not the owners, they must submit evidence of having notified the intention to the owners of the parcels in that geographic demarcation. In inheritance cases a Declaratoria de Herederos is filed; for a corporation, a corporate resolution duly registered with the Department of State. And where there is more than one owner, evidence must be submitted that all authorise the proposed action before the Board, unless all delegate to a single person by sworn statement or other legal document.

8. 8

   Step 8: If the project is commercial

   Commercial projects carry their own argumentative burden: they must justify the proposed square footage taking into account, without limitation, the project type, the proposed uses, intensities and densities, the net sales area, how it harmonises with the adopted Land Use Plan, and justify how the public at large benefits, on the basis of job creation, infrastructure improvements, investment and the contribution to municipal patentes, among others. In addition, all interested parties must discuss and justify compliance with Planning Regulations 21 and 22 on New Competences to Enable Urban Development and Ordering of Infrastructure in Public Space; state the availability, programming, existing capacity and improvements of the site’s physical and social infrastructure; discuss and detail the proposed land uses; and establish the capacity of the existing or proposed infrastructure. And before approval, compliance with the Environmental Public Policy Act, Ley 416-2004, is required by way of a DECA categorical exclusion certification.

9. 9

   Step 9: Public hearing, resolution and Executive Order

   The Board holds a public hearing under Rule 2.1.10 of Chapter 2.1 of Volume II of the regulation. And adoption takes two signatures: the Master Plan is adopted by the Board through a resolution to that effect and approved by the Governor through an Executive Order. The Board alone is not enough: the Executive Order is needed.

10. 10

    Step 10: Five years, and what happens if they lapse

    The Master Plan comes into force on the date of the Governor’s approval, and it approves the parcelling or parcellings involved in each concept or stage. The Board’s approval has a validity of five years from the date of approval; that period may be longer or shorter where the Board deems it fitting, in the public interest. A Master Plan is considered in force while the terms the Board granted to continue with subsequent stages before OGPe are running, or while any of the stages is in force. And if the validity of the approval or of a permit granted by OGPe under an approved Master Plan expires and the Plan’s validity has also expired, the proponent or the government agency concerned may file a request for extension or reopening; if authorised, they may continue the process before OGPe, an Authorised Professional or a hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, as the law provides. Master Plans filed by consultation and duly presented before the Board prior to Ley 161-2009 taking effect, and in force, continue to be evaluated by the Board.

11. 11

    Step 11: Amendments, and the clock that stops in court

    Master plans may be revised at the request of the interested party or on the Board’s initiative, in line with changes in the conditions of the area under study or changes in the applicable laws and regulations. If an amendment is authorised, the Board may set the term to continue with the operational phase before OGPe, computed from the date the approval is notified. And there is a rule that saves validity: where a judicial review petition has been filed at the Court of Appeals challenging a Master Plan approved by the Board, the period during which the case is under the Court’s consideration — until it renders judgment and the mandate is remitted to the agency — is not computed as part of the Plan’s validity period.

Before the Planning Board, through its Digital File System or in person at the Secretary Office. The filing date is, for all legal purposes, the date of receipt at the Board. The public hearing is held by the Board under Rule 2.1.10 of Chapter 2.1 of Volume II. The categorical exclusion certification for compliance with Ley 416-2004 is issued by DECA. Adoption is by Board resolution and the Governor’s approval through an Executive Order. Subsequent stages are processed before OGPe, an Authorised Professional or a hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, as the law provides.

• Filing the Master Plan without having passed the initial stage the Board must find adequate.
• Using your own population projections instead of those prepared by the Board.
• Modifying or disaggregating those projections without prior endorsement of the methodology.
• Filing without evidence of being owner, optionee or lessee authorised by the owner.
• Failing to notify the intention to the parcel owners when the promoter is not the owner.
• Filing with several owners without evidence that all authorise the proposed action.
• Treating the plan as adopted on the Board’s resolution alone, without the Governor’s Executive Order.
• Confusing the approved plan’s five years of validity with how long the process takes.
• Letting the validity lapse without filing the extension or reopening request.

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