Building near an airport or on land qualified D-G

It is the section of Rule 6.1.1 of Chapter 6.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 governing two situations where the permit is not assessed on the district table alone. Airport zones, where air safety may prevent the issuance of a permit altogether. And district D-G, assigned to land affected by public-interest projects, where the regulation sets different rules according to who owns the land, who the user is and whether the proposed use is in the D-G Use Table or not.

The airport prohibition applies to any permit application for the use of appurtenances or the erection, relocation or alteration of buildings or structures where any of the five circumstances the section enumerates concurs. The D-G criteria apply to land qualified D-G or affected by a public-interest project, and split by case: applications by governmental entities or municipalities; constructions for private use on privately owned land; private use on publicly owned land; and land whose user holds legitimate title of usufruct without limits to the investment. The location-consultation exemption applies to public or private projects that constitute the neighbourhood installations of a development.

• That the proposed structure not create interference with radio communication between the airport and aircraft.Verified against the official source
• That it not cause difficulty to pilots in distinguishing the airport’s lights or other control lights, nor result in glare in the pilots’ view.Verified against the official source
• That it not constitute a hazard for the landing, departure or manoeuvring of aircraft.Verified against the official source
• That it not exceed the height limitations established in relation to airport zones.Verified against the official source
• For public-interest projects of governmental entities or municipalities not contained in the D-G Use Table: having been approved by the Junta Adjudicativa by location consultation.Verified against the official source
• For private use on publicly owned land: that the owning governmental entity submit the application or authorise the interested party in writing, with an authorisation describing the project.Verified against the official source
• For new constructions, extensions and reconstructions for private use on privately owned land: the recommendations of the concerned governmental entity, which OGPe will obtain and take into consideration.Verified against the official source
• For land whose user holds legitimate title of usufruct without limits to the investment: consultation with the entity or municipality that granted or administers the usufruct.Verified against the official source

• Written authorisation from the governmental entity that owns the land, which must describe the project, for private use on publicly owned land.
• Recommendation of the concerned governmental entity, which OGPe obtains for private-use constructions on privately owned land.
• Recommendation of the concerned governmental entity that motivated the D-G qualification, for the Permiso Único on privately owned land.
• Resolution of the Junta Adjudicativa approving the location consultation, for public-interest projects not contained in the D-G Use Table.

1. 1

   Step 1: The prohibition near airports

   The section opens with a sentence that admits no nuance: no permit whatsoever will be issued for the use of appurtenances or the erection, relocation or alteration of buildings or structures where any of the five things it enumerates occurs. And it clarifies that "structures" includes chimneys, poles, tanks, radio towers, antennas, towers and electric transmission lines — that is, things often installed without thinking that permits are needed.

2. 2

   Step 2: The five grounds

   The permit is denied where interference is created with radio communication between the airport and aircraft; where difficulty is caused to pilots in distinguishing the airport’s lights or other control lights; where it results in glare in the pilots’ view; where it constitutes a hazard for landing, departure or manoeuvring; and where it exceeds the height limitations established in relation to airport zones. Note that three of the five are not about height: they are about radio, light and glare. A highly reflective metal roof or a small antenna can fall within them even if the building is low.

3. 3

   Step 3: What it means for land to be qualified D-G

   District D-G is placed over land affected by public-interest projects. That qualification does not expropriate the land, but it conditions what may be done with it, and the regulation says so plainly in the criterion that applies to private owners: where a permit is granted for new construction, extension or reconstruction of private use on privately owned land, the permit must explicitly state that the property is affected by a public-interest project or qualified D-G, and establish the conditions that make the eventual acquisition of the property by the State viable. The design parameters will be set by OGPe in accordance with the predominant uses in the vicinity, not by a table of its own.

4. 4

   Step 4: Government and municipal projects

   For applications by governmental entities or municipalities the regulation distinguishes by whether the use is in the D-G Use Table or not. Public-interest projects not contained in that table, and those exempted in Rule 2.2.8 and in Sections 3.2.4.3, 5.1.2.7 and 7.1.2.5, must have been approved by the Junta Adjudicativa by location consultation. Works that are contained in the D-G Use Table, or exempted in those same rules, where no express resolution of the Planning Board or the Junta Adjudicativa intervenes, are to be considered as a construction consultation before OGPe. And OGPe or the Assistant Secretary may take action where the projects of entities or municipalities have ministerial uses contained in that table. A note on the source: the section cites "Rule 2.2.8" alongside three provisions cited as Sections, mixing two numberings in one list; we reproduce the citations as printed.

5. 5

   Step 5: Private use on government land

   Where what is proposed is a private use on publicly owned land, the regulation does not allow the private party to file on its own. It will be required that the owning governmental entity submit the application or authorise the interested party in writing, and that authorisation must describe the project. If the determination is favourable, conditions will be imposed ensuring the least degree of conflict in the State’s future use.

6. 6

   Step 6: Usufruct without limits to the investment

   There is an intermediate case the regulation resolves separately: land whose user holds legitimate title of usufruct without limits to the investment. There the entity or municipality that granted or administers the usufruct will be consulted, and the parameters of the predominant district for similar morphologies will be used. And an exemption that saves a whole procedure: an approved location consultation will not be required for public or private projects that constitute the neighbourhood installations of a development.

7. 7

   Step 7: The Permiso Único in D-G

   For operation, the section closes with two parallel rules. In buildings and lots in private use on publicly owned land, the proposed use will be authorised on issuing the construction permit, or any other compatible use that is not noxious, obtaining the recommendation of the concerned governmental entity. On privately owned land, likewise, obtaining the recommendation of the concerned governmental entity that motivated the D-G qualification. In both cases the agency’s recommendation is part of the file, not an optional step.

Applications are filed before OGPe. The location and construction consultations this section requires are resolved before the Junta Adjudicativa or before OGPe as the case may be. Authorisations and recommendations from the concerned governmental entity are requested from that entity, and in the case of public land it is the owning entity that submits the application or authorises the interested party in writing.

• Thinking that near an airport the only limit is height, when radio interference, lights and glare also deny the permit.
• Installing an antenna, a pole, a tank or a radio tower without a permit on the belief that it is not a structure.
• Buying or developing land qualified D-G without finding out which governmental entity motivated the qualification.
• Expecting the D-G permit not to mention the affectation, when the regulation requires it to state it explicitly.
• Ignoring that the D-G permit will carry conditions aimed at making the eventual acquisition of the property by the State viable.
• Looking for the design parameters in a D-G table of its own, when OGPe sets them in accordance with the predominant uses in the vicinity.
• Filing on one’s own a private use on publicly owned land, without the owning entity submitting the application or authorising in writing.
• Submitting an authorisation from the owning entity that does not describe the project.
• Processing a public-interest project not contained in the D-G Use Table without the location consultation approved by the Junta Adjudicativa.
• Processing a location consultation for the neighbourhood installations of a development, which the section exempts.
• Forgetting the consultation with the entity or municipality that granted or administers the usufruct.
• Applying for the Permiso Único in D-G without the recommendation of the concerned governmental entity.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov

• Planning Board

  jp

  jp.pr.gov