The town plaza: what may be built in it, the trees, the furniture and the parking

They are Rules 10.2.6 to 10.2.9 of Chapter 10.2 of Joint Regulation No. 9473. Rule 10.2.6 regulates accessory buildings and uses in historic sites and zones; 10.2.7, intervention in public spaces and parking where historic sites and zones sit, with urban furniture, infrastructure and paving; 10.2.8, works in the plazas, plazuelas and plazas de recreo and in the surrounding properties; and 10.2.9, parking in historic sites and zones. The permits to obtain are in the guide to Rules 10.2.1 to 10.2.3, demolitions in the guide to Rule 10.2.4, the intervention standards for the building itself in the guide to Rule 10.2.5, and signs and awnings in the guide to Rule 10.2.10. All were written from the same reading of the complete chapter.

The rules apply inside historic sites and zones and, in the case of plazas, to the plazas, plazuelas and plazas de recreo of the traditional urban centres in Puerto Rico’s municipalities, including the surrounding properties, in designated historic zones or ones in the process of designation. Rule 10.2.7’s declared purpose is to protect public space, including all the plazas de recreo, plazuelas, parks, promenades and gardens, and to regulate parking. And throughout them the chapter’s warning repeats: where Normas Especiales de Ordenamiento exist that are more precise than or contradict what is specified, the Special Rules apply.

• Not building enclosed structures in public open spaces: only open structures are permitted, harmonious with the area’s custom and tradition, occupying no more than two per cent of the open space.Verified against the official source
• That no element of urban furniture interrupt pedestrian flow over an area greater than twenty per cent of the paved pavement’s width or for a length greater than one and a half metres.Verified against the official source
• That every new plaza design be based on the original design, drawn from historic documents, plans or photographs.Verified against the official source
• That OGPe and the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Offices have the ICP’s recommendation before approving any project of remodelling, extension, alteration and improvement in the plazas de recreo and the surrounding properties.Verified against the official source
• That every new construction in the area surrounding a plaza have neither a height nor an area greater than the average of the existing buildings on the eligible properties.Verified against the official source
• That the plaza’s exterior pavements be not less than three metres wide, with non-slip surfaces and ramps conforming to the Planning Board’s standards.Verified against the official source
• That all parking be located inside the plot, outside any required front yard, and that the visibility of cars from the public road be obstructed and disguised by structures, fences or a live hedge.Verified against the official source

• The historic documents, plans or photographs on which the plaza’s new design is based.
• The ICP’s recommendation, prior to OGPe’s or the municipality’s approval of any project of remodelling, extension, alteration or improvement in the plazas de recreo and the surrounding properties.

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   Step 1: In public open space: nothing enclosed, and only two per cent

   Building enclosed structures in public open spaces is not permitted. Only open structures are permitted, harmonious with the area’s custom and tradition, occupying no more than two per cent of the open space. And the original layouts and alignments are conserved. That two per cent is the hard ceiling on any proposal to build in the plaza or in a park in a historic zone.

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   Step 2: Urban furniture and the pedestrian’s passage

   All urban furniture must harmonise with the urban image and cultural landscape where the historic site or zone sits, without hiding or altering its character. And no element of urban furniture may interrupt pedestrian flow over an area greater than twenty per cent of the paved pavement’s width and for a length greater than one and a half metres. It is the rule deciding whether a bench, a post or a kiosk may go where someone wants to put it.

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   Step 3: The cables: underground where possible

   Cables, posts, traffic lights, transformers, registers, meters and other electrical, telephone, water, sanitary, storm, telecommunications, gas or other installations must harmonise with the area’s character. Every effort must be made to put electrical and telephone cable runs underground. And infrastructure works must conform to the Regulation on the Ordering of Infrastructure in Public Space in force, Planning Regulation No. 22, which we did not read for this guide. The paving of any public area harmonises with its immediate context and the place’s traditional pattern.

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   Step 4: The plaza is redesigned from its original design

   Any works may be carried out in and around the plazas, plazuelas and plazas de recreo of the traditional urban centres, including the external or internal elements, subject to compliance with the regulation’s criteria. But every new design is based on the original design, drawn from historic documents, plans or photographs. The external elements are those surrounding the plaza, including the buildings on the surrounding blocks and the streets defining the urban space; the internal ones, those inside the plaza itself. And OGPe and the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Offices have the ICP’s recommendation before approving any project of remodelling, extension, alteration and improvement in the plazas de recreo and the surrounding properties.

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   Step 5: Around the plaza: nothing taller than the average

   The structures and plots surrounding the plazas de recreo play an important aesthetic and historic role, so the original spatial characteristics must be maintained and there must be a harmonious proportion between the plaza’s surface, the façade lines and the maximum heights of the surrounding buildings. Concretely: every existing building, structure or plot in the area surrounding a plaza, plazuela or plaza de recreo located in a historic zone or centro fundacional is governed by the regulation’s provisions; and every new construction in the surrounding area must have neither a height nor an area greater than the average of the existing buildings on the eligible properties. As for the surrounding streets, their paving, tree planting and furniture must be harmonious with the plaza and the historic properties; streets are not widened to provide parking where it is not justified, nor may new streets or surfaces for motor vehicles that could fragment or invade the plaza be permitted.

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   Step 6: Pedestrian axes and the three-metre pavements

   The circulation routes easing movement to, from and around the plaza must keep proportion between the plaza’s dimension and the access roads’ running width; have an area of lawn and trees for vegetation continuity with the plaza; maintain the views produced towards and from the plaza by the streets, bearing in mind their relation to the most important buildings, such as the church and the casa alcaldía; provide vehicle parking in marginal areas or buildings; and display signs per the regulation. The pedestrian circulation system must naturally continue the one already existing in the access streets, with accesses sited in terms of axes, connections or institutional buildings or monuments facing the plaza, serving as porticos or entrance gates to the precinct to avoid shortcuts. And the exterior pavements are not less than three metres wide, with non-slip surfaces and ramps to ease access for persons with disabilities or prams, conforming to the Planning Board’s standards.

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   Step 7: Inside the plaza: 1950, the octagonal form and the furniture

   For the design of the internal elements, the plaza’s original characteristics and its historic evolution are respected, particularly the interventions before 1950 that gave it its character as a tree-shaded area of passive recreation; those interventions and the location of the main institutional buildings around it are obligatory criteria for establishing the system of axes and focal points. In dimensions, the plazas’ original and historic dimensions and form are taken into account to maintain their octagonal form. In furniture: benches must be of durable material and strategically sited in the area covered or partly covered from the sun; building water fountains is not authorised unless the resources needed for their maintenance are available; the architectural characteristics are considered when choosing the lighting supports and luminaires; glorietas may be combined with kiosks and sculptures to highlight important views; building acoustic shells is discouraged, since the plaza is not the appropriate place for them, as is extending or remodelling existing ones; and temporary structures such as templetes and marquees built for a special activity may not become permanent elements.

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   Step 8: The trees: no taller than a four-storey building

   Trees, shrubs and flowers define zones within the plaza’s space, so the landscape treatment must follow three standards. The trees’ height and foliage keep close proportion with the surrounding buildings, and their height is no greater than a four-storey building. They are oriented so as to obtain a cone of shade protecting the rest areas. And the destruction of lawns and flowers is avoided by a system of fences or live hedges no greater than three feet and which, in the case of fences, can be seen through.

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   Step 9: Parking: only what fits without harm

   The parking requirements of Chapter 8.5 of Volume VIII apply, which this site covers in another guide. However, in the intervention of structures classified as historic sites or eligible properties in historic zones, and in the properties surrounding the plazas de recreo, only the parking that can be accommodated without prejudice to the property’s or the public space’s integrity is required. For that reason, demolishing accessory or eligible buildings, or a nearby or abutting building, to provide parking for a property is not permitted, nor is eliminating interior uses to accommodate parking. Parking is no excuse to knock things down.

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    Step 10: How that parking is designed

    All parking is located inside the plot, outside any required front yard, if there is one. The visibility of cars from the public road is obstructed and disguised by structures, fences or a live hedge, as permitted. And no plot of demolished or to-be-demolished properties may be used as improvised parking: the rule closes the commonest escape after a demolition.

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    Step 11: Accessory buildings, and the one that is already eligible

    Accessory uses may be provided to any principal use permitted in the zone where the property sits, provided they are clearly incidental and ordinarily related to the principal use, contribute to the users’ comfort, convenience or need, are established together with or after the principal use but never before, that the principal use’s discontinuation implies the accessory ones’ — except for the dwelling units permitted in accessory buildings in residential districts — and that the accessory and principal buildings’ occupation area does not exceed what the plot permits. And there is a rule specific to this chapter worth underlining: accessory buildings that are themselves eligible are respected with all the original characteristics they possess, which prevail over any other criterion established. Accessory uses and buildings to a principal residential use are governed by Chapter 8.4 of Volume VIII, which has its own guide on this site.

Projects in the plaza and in the surrounding properties are approved by OGPe or by the Autonomous Municipality’s Permit Office, always with the ICP’s prior recommendation. Intervention in public space — signage, underground or overhead infrastructure, traffic changes — requires OGPe’s or the municipality’s authorisation, even when proposed by a government agency or the municipality itself. And the parking requirements are taken from Chapter 8.5 of Volume VIII, modulated by the rule that only what fits without prejudice to the property’s or the public space’s integrity is required.

• Building an enclosed structure in the open space of the plaza or of a park in a historic zone.
• Exceeding two per cent of the open space with open structures.
• Placing urban furniture that interrupts more than twenty per cent of the pavement’s width or more than one and a half metres in length.
• Redesigning the plaza without starting from its historic documents, plans or photographs.
• Approving a plaza remodelling without the ICP’s prior recommendation.
• Raising in the surrounding area a construction with a height or area greater than the average of the existing eligible buildings.
• Widening the streets around the plaza to provide parking without justification.
• Leaving as permanent the templete or marquee raised for a special activity.
• Planting trees in the plaza taller than a four-storey building.
• Putting fences or hedges over three feet around the lawns, or fences that cannot be seen through.
• Demolishing an accessory, eligible or abutting building to make parking.
• Using the plot of a demolished property as improvised parking.

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