Historic zone and town plaza: the twelve permits, the ICP recommendation and what really is exempt

It is Chapter 10.2 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, titled Conservation of Historic Sites, Historic Zones and Centros Fundacionales. This guide covers its Rules 10.2.1, 10.2.2 and 10.2.3: the purpose, what and whom it applies to, the list of permits to obtain, the authorisation to intervene in public space, the ICP recommendation requirement, the exempt works, how permits are issued and the special provision allowing denial even where everything complies. This site already has guides on the act requiring the ICP endorsement — Act 374-1949 — on how a historic site or zone is designated — Chapter 10.1 of this same regulation — on the list of buildings of historic value under Act 3-1951, and on the ICP’s Built Historic Patrimony programme. This is the regulation of what happens afterwards, when the zone already exists and you live or run a business inside it.

The provisions apply to historic sites and zones designated under Chapter 10.1 of this regulation or designated by statute, to the centros fundacionales, and to eligible properties or those with potential eligibility; and they apply to every natural or juridical person, public or private. The centros fundacionales are, per the chapter itself, the municipalities’ plazas de recreo and the blocks surrounding them. Moreover, the regulation reaches every public transaction or improvement by any Government official or body inside the designated area, and permits for construction, reconstruction, excavation, extraction or earth movement anywhere there is prior documentation or reliable indications of archaeological material, whether or not inside a historic zone.

• Obtaining, before intervening, the corresponding permit from OGPe, the PA or the Permit Office of an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchies I to III, according to the works involved.Verified against the official source
• That every permit have, before issue, the recommendation of the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña.Verified against the official source
• Obtaining OGPe’s or the Autonomous Municipality’s authorisation for any intervention in public space, including signage works, underground or overhead infrastructure or traffic changes, whether carried out by a private person or by a government agency or municipality.Verified against the official source
• That the exempt works not alter distinctive elements noted as such in the property’s designation documents, nor remove designated historic material or objects.Verified against the official source
• For the sign, awning and curtain permit applied for by a tenant: the owner’s prior written approval.Verified against the official source
• That façade paint be applied to the whole façade, not only to the part corresponding to the local that is the subject of the permiso único.Verified against the official source

• The application for the corresponding permit before OGPe, the PA or the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Office, with the ICP’s evaluation for its recommendation prior to issue.
• Where a tenant applies for the sign, awning and curtain permit: the owner’s written approval.
• The property’s designation documents, where the distinctive elements no exempt work may alter and the designated historic material or objects that may not be removed are noted.

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   Step 1: If your house faces the town plaza, you are inside

   The chapter applies to historic sites and zones designated under Chapter 10.1 of this regulation or designated by statute, to the centros fundacionales and to eligible properties or those with potential eligibility. And the regulation defines the centros fundacionales without ambiguity: they are the towns’ plazas de recreo and the blocks surrounding them. That means you do not have to live in Old San Juan: a property facing the plaza de recreo of any municipality, or on the block around it, falls under these rules.

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   Step 2: What it covers: use, works, demolition, signs and public space

   The provisions apply to and cover every occupation or use of any property, structure or land; every segregation or grouping of solares; every construction, including alteration, extension, consolidation, new construction, reconstruction, restructuring, reform, rehabilitation, remodelling, restoration and the works to improve or condition land for building; every relocation of a structure; every demolition; every installation of signs or notices; every erection of temporary structures; every intervention in public space; and every other project proposed inside a designated area. Also every public transaction or improvement by any Government official or body inside the area, and permits for construction, reconstruction, excavation, extraction or earth movement anywhere there is prior documentation or reliable indications of archaeological material.

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   Step 3: The twelve permits

   The list is as follows: the permiso único to occupy or use any structure or land; the permit to segregate or group solares; the construction permit for alteration — structural, façade, typological or minor — extension, consolidation, new construction and infrastructure works including those related to gas installation, reconstruction, reform, repair, restoration and rehabilitation works on eligible and non-eligible properties, whole or façade-only, fence construction and the works to condition land; the permit to relocate any structure; the demolition permit, partial or total, and debris removal; the permit to install signs, awnings and curtains, which may be applied for by tenants with the owner’s prior written approval; the temporary permit for constructing and using temporary structures such as stands, pavilions, awnings, platforms and kiosks, which must be completely removed when the permit expires; the permit for any infrastructure installation, including gas, signals or urban furniture, and for pruning, removing or planting trees in public space; the permit to apply exterior paint; permits to carry out major cleaning on a property, whether or not machinery, chemicals or abrasives are used; permits for remodelling, reconstruction, alteration or any other modification or works, major or minor, in the centros fundacionales; and permits for construction, reconstruction, excavation, extraction or earth movement where there are indications of archaeological material.

4. 4

   Step 4: Painting the façade and major cleaning are permits

   It is worth isolating the two items that surprise owners most. One: the permit to apply exterior paint. Painting the outside of the house, in a historic site or zone or on the block surrounding the plaza, is a permit with the ICP’s recommendation. Two: permits to carry out major cleaning on a property, whether or not machinery, chemicals or abrasives are used. That last phrase closes the obvious escape: saying you will only wash with water and a brush is not enough. And on the façade there is an extra rule: the paint is applied to the whole façade, not only to the part corresponding to the local that is the subject of the permiso único.

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   Step 5: Public space: for agencies and municipalities too

   OGPe’s or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchies I to III’s authorisation is required for any intervention in public space, including signage works, underground or overhead infrastructure or traffic changes, by private persons or government agencies, including the municipalities. The final phrase matters: the rule does not exempt the government or the municipality itself from seeking authorisation to intervene in the street or the plaza.

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   Step 6: The ICP comes in even outside the zone

   All permits, authorisations and actions on historic sites, historic zones, the centros fundacionales — the plazas de recreo and their surrounding blocks — and eligible properties or those with potential eligibility require, before issue, the ICP’s evaluation for its recommendation. And the chapter expressly extends that requirement "even outside the historic zones" to archaeological sites or deposits or places where there is prior documentation or reliable indications of archaeological material. A plot with no visible historic feature can trigger the ICP’s recommendation if there are documented archaeological indications.

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   Step 7: The works you can do without a permit

   Minor miscellaneous repairs and constructions may be done without applying for a permit, provided no distinctive elements noted as such in the property’s designation documents are altered and no designated historic material or objects are removed. The list includes: substituting old material for new of the same or similar class, such as wood for wood or zinc for zinc, in partitions, roof and floors — which does not cover substituting exterior or load-bearing walls or support elements; changing wooden floors for wooden floors over concrete footings, provided the floor-to-ground height does not exceed one metre; changing wooden footings for wooden footings; changing cardboard roof coverings for zinc or any other material that is not concrete; repairs to concrete buildings, including rendering and filling cracks, leaks and drips; simple substitutions in signs, plumbing and electrical systems; interior paint provided it does not affect murals, stencils or other works of value; touching up exterior paint under the regulation’s parameters with the ICP’s technical advice; minor alterations or repairs in non-eligible properties or eligible ones of scenic value; and routine or maintenance cleaning that does not involve machinery, chemicals or abrasives and does not affect the building’s integrity.

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   Step 8: And where the exemption dies: the recommendation and the tax exemption

   The same section listing the exempt works inserts, in the middle of the list, two paragraphs that limit it. The first says that all cases, in compliance with Regulation No. 5976 of 11 June 1999 on fees and charges for services and endorsements by the Archaeology and Built Historic Patrimony Divisions, and with Act No. 60 of 2019, the Incentives Code, require the ICP’s recommendation. The second says no new exemptions will be granted nor existing ones renewed on properties where major or minor interventions are carried out without the ICP’s recommendation. That is: exemption from a permit is not exemption from the ICP, and doing works without that recommendation can cost you the tax exemption.

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   Step 9: How the permit is issued and what reaches the ICP

   Permits or authorisations are issued only where the action is in harmony and conformity with this regulation, other regulations or other applicable planning documents. The Planning Board, OGPe or the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Office, with the ICP’s recommendation, consider the later chapters’ provisions and the particular site’s or zone’s Normas Especiales de Ordenamiento. Moreover, they send the ICP a copy of every permit or consulta approved, including the form filed and the approval notice with the case reference number clearly stated, not later than two business days after the approval notices are sent. The ICP is also notified of any construction permit application or preliminary design denied for non-conformity, with the reference number and the correspondence evidencing the denial.

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    Step 10: Complying with everything and still being denied

    Rule 10.2.3 is the special provision. Any permit or authorisation sought that, even while complying with the regulation, presents characteristics making its application impracticable or its issue undesirable for factors such as health, safety, order, defence, economy, traffic, residents’ tranquillity, overcrowding, absence of public facilities or improvements, better land use, or environmental, aesthetic or exceptional-beauty conditions, may be denied by OGPe, the Planning Board or the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Office. Three counterweights are worth knowing: the agencies must take the measures necessary so this provision is not used to bypass the regulation where no truly special circumstances exist; public hearings will be held in these cases; and the agency must formulate the denial’s reasons in writing, with a copy included in the determination notice to the applicant.

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    Step 11: Ask which Normas Especiales govern your zone

    Throughout the chapter a warning repeats that is worth taking seriously: where Normas Especiales de Ordenamiento exist that are more precise than or contradict these general rules, the Special Rules’ provisions apply. We did not read the Normas Especiales of any particular zone, because they are separate documents specific to each site. Before planning works, ask OGPe, your municipality or the ICP whether your zone has adopted Normas Especiales and what they say: they may be more restrictive than what you read here.

Permits are applied for before OGPe, before an Authorised Professional or before the Permit Office of an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchies I to III, as applicable. The Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña’s recommendation comes before issue and is coordinated by the evaluating agency. The authorisation to intervene in public space is given by OGPe or the municipality, and government agencies and the municipality itself need it too.

• Believing the historic zone is only Old San Juan: the centros fundacionales are all the plazas de recreo and their surrounding blocks.
• Painting the exterior façade without the permit to apply exterior paint.
• Carrying out major cleaning without a permit, believing the exemption covers any washing.
• Installing a sign, awning or curtain without a permit, or as a tenant without the owner’s written approval.
• Pruning, removing or planting a tree in public space without a permit.
• Excavating where there is prior documentation or reliable indications of archaeological material without the corresponding permit.
• Reading the exempt works and skipping the paragraph saying that in all cases the ICP’s recommendation is required.
• Risking the tax exemption by intervening in the property without the ICP’s recommendation.
• Painting only the part of the façade of your own local when the paint is applied to the whole façade.
• Planning the works without asking whether your zone has Normas Especiales de Ordenamiento, which prevail over these general rules.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov

• Puerto Rican Institute of Culture

  icp

  www.icp.pr.gov