In short
Rule 8.7.12 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 is the strictest the chapter devotes to a type of road: signs or advertisements installed to be seen from a road comprised in the National Highway System. It first bounds where: they are permitted only in commercial districts, industrial districts and non-zoned area, plus any other calification district where a commercial or industrial use permit has been approved, whose approval shall be processed by the same route as the main use permit was granted. It then imposes the harsher criterion: signs shall comply with the Chapter’s maximum sizes and with any other rule mentioning the National Highway System or the Interstate Highway System, whichever is stricter, besides Part 750 "Highway Beautification" of 23 CFR and the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. The distances are what define the highway landscape: a minimum setback of fifteen feet from the system’s nearest edge or boundary, besides the right-of-way easement; nothing within the strip established for the official advertisements of the DTOP and the ACT; nothing within five hundred feet of the entrance and exit of an at-grade or grade-separated intersection; nothing within three hundred feet after passing an entrance; spacing of five hundred feet between ground advertisements on the same side of the road, regardless of lanes; and sixty feet of height as an absolute cap. And the clause governing it all: no sign may affect drivers’ safety, and where it does the permit granted shall be revoked.
What is it?
It is Rule 8.7.12 of Chapter 8.7 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, titled specific provisions for installing signs or advertisements to be seen from a road comprised in the National Highway System. It does not replace the district rules: it adds to them and, where they conflict, the stricter one rules. It is also the only part of the chapter hooking directly into federal highway rules.
Who can do it?
The zones where the installation of signs or advertisements to be seen from a National Highway System road is permitted are commercial districts, industrial districts and the non-zoned area. Added to these is any other calification district where a commercial or industrial use permit has been approved, applying this Chapter’s advertisement standards; the approval of those permits shall be processed by the same route as the main use permit was granted.
Requirements
- Complying with the maximum size provisions established in Chapter 8.7 and with any other rule mentioning the National Highway System or the Interstate Highway System, whichever is stricter.Verified against the official source
- Complying with Part 750 "Highway Beautification" of 23 CFR Volume 1, and with the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 in areas adjacent to any National Highway System road.Verified against the official source
- That illumination characteristics take into consideration DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution (Regulation No. 8786) and Law 218-2008, as amended, and any other state or federal law and regulation, whichever is stricter.Verified against the official source
- Installing only in commercial districts, industrial districts or non-zoned area, or in another calification district where a commercial or industrial use permit has been approved.Verified against the official source
- Keeping a minimum setback of fifteen (15) feet from the nearest edge or boundary of the National Highway System, besides the road’s right-of-way easement.Verified against the official source
- Not installing any advertisement within the strip established for the official advertisements of the DTOP and the ACT.Verified against the official source
- Not installing signs or advertisements at a distance of less than five hundred (500) feet from the entrance and exit of an at-grade or grade-separated intersection, nor less than three hundred (300) feet after passing an entrance to an NHS road.Verified against the official source
- Keeping a spacing of five hundred (500) feet between advertisements installed on the ground on the same side of the public way, regardless of the number of lanes, applying also to road confluences; façade advertisements are not counted for that computation.Verified against the official source
- That the height, which depends on the site’s topography and what is appropriate to its use to be seen from the National Highway System, in no case be greater than sixty (60) feet.Verified against the official source
- That illumination be non-flashing.Verified against the official source
- Not using a public way’s reversible lane for computing size, height, setback and spacing.Verified against the official source
- Certification of a licensed engineer or architect on the frame’s structural soundness, where the sign or advertisement requires a frame for its installation.Verified against the official source
- That the construction and installation material not reflect light or shadow onto the public way nor otherwise interfere with the driving of the motor vehicles travelling it.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Where it is allowed, and only there
The rule lists three zones where installing signs or advertisements to be seen from a National Highway System road is permitted: commercial districts, industrial districts and non-zoned area. To that it adds any other calification district where a commercial or industrial use permit has been approved, applying this Chapter’s advertisement standards, and clarifies the procedural route: the approval of these permits shall be processed by the same route as the main use permit was granted.
Step 2: The stricter-of-the-two rule
Signs and advertisements to be permitted shall comply with the maximum size provisions established in the Chapter and any other rule mentioning the National Highway System or the Interstate Highway System, whichever is stricter. The same logic governs light: illumination characteristics must take into consideration DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution, Regulation No. 8786, and Law 218-2008 as amended, and any other state or federal law and regulation, whichever is stricter. And on the federal side the reference is twofold: Part 750 "Highway Beautification" of 23 CFR Volume 1 and the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. We read none of those four texts and publish no parameter of theirs.
Step 3: The fifteen feet of setback
Every advertisement must keep a minimum setback of fifteen feet from the nearest edge or boundary of the National Highway System. The sentence that follows is the one usually overlooked: besides the road’s right-of-way easement. The fifteen feet are measured not from the pavement’s edge but from where the right-of-way ends, so the real distance to the asphalt is greater. And no advertisement may be installed within the strip established for the official advertisements of the DTOP and the ACT; the Chapter publishes no width for that strip and we do not infer it.
Step 4: The five hundred and three hundred feet at exits
Two more distances protect the conflict points. No signs or advertisements are permitted at a distance of less than five hundred feet from the entrance and exit of an at-grade or grade-separated intersection. And installing signs or advertisements less than three hundred feet after passing an entrance to an NHS road is not permitted. A note on the source: that second figure is printed "trecientos", and we reproduce it as is.
Step 5: Five hundred feet between advertisements, regardless of lanes
Here the rule departs from what applies outside the system. The spacing limitations apply only to advertisements installed on the ground on the same side of the public way, and for determining the space between them, advertisements installed on buildings’ façades are not counted. Lots fronting public ways, regardless of the number of lanes, shall keep a spacing between advertisements of five hundred feet. That is: where on an ordinary commercial corridor spacing can drop to two hundred feet, facing the National Highway System it is always five hundred. The spacing requirement applies also to road confluences.
Step 6: Height and the reversible lane
The height of advertisements depends on the site’s topography and what is appropriate to its use to be seen from the National Highway System, provided it poses no risk to the safety of the community where it is sited and of the vehicles travelling the public way. In no case shall it be greater than sixty feet. Illumination may be non-flashing. And there is a computation exclusion the rule states twice: public ways where a reversible lane has been included may not use that lane for purposes of computing size, height, setback and spacing. We publish it once and record that the source carries it twice.
Step 7: Driver safety rules
The rule closes its siting part with the chapter’s most forceful clause: no sign or advertisement may affect the safety of drivers travelling the interstate road, and so, where that safety is affected, the permit granted shall be revoked. It is not an entry condition but a permanent one: the permit granted is revoked if the sign ends up affecting safety. The sign’s brightness, besides, must comply with DRNA’s Regulation for the Control and Prevention of Light Pollution in force.
Step 8: The frame counts as part of the sign
Section 8.7.12.3 settles a practical doubt: a sign or advertisement requiring a frame for its installation, in any material, electrical or other fitting and other accessories, is understood to have these as an integral part, and for all legal purposes they are considered one unit. Two demands follow. The certification of a licensed engineer or architect on the frame’s structural soundness is necessary. And the sign’s construction and installation material may not reflect light, or shadow onto the public way, or otherwise interfere with the driving of the motor vehicles travelling it.
Where to do it
The permit is processed before OGPe or the autonomous municipality with the corresponding hierarchy. Where the sign goes in a calification district other than the commercial and industrial ones but with an approved commercial or industrial use permit, the approval is processed by the same route as the main use permit was granted. Illumination characteristics are measured against DRNA’s Regulation No. 8786 and Law 218-2008, and federal compliance against Part 750 of 23 CFR and the Highway Beautification Act of 1965.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
Facing a National Highway System road it pays to rule out before designing. The first question is zoning: if the lot is not in a commercial district, an industrial one or non-zoned area, and has no approved commercial or industrial use permit either, no sign is possible by this route. The second is distances, and there are four: fifteen feet of setback from the system’s nearest edge or boundary — besides the right-of-way easement, not inside it; nothing within the strip for the official advertisements of the DTOP and the ACT; five hundred clear feet around the entrance and exit of any at-grade or grade-separated intersection; and three hundred feet after passing an entrance. The third is neighbourhood: five hundred feet of spacing from the nearest ground advertisement on the same side of the road, regardless of how many lanes it has, counting confluences too; façade advertisements do not enter that calculation. Height is justified by topography but never exceeds sixty feet, and if the road has a reversible lane, that lane counts for nothing. If the sign carries a frame, the certification of a licensed engineer or architect on its structural soundness is required, and the material may not reflect light or shadow onto the road. All of this lives alongside a condition that does not expire: if the sign affects drivers’ safety, the permit is revoked.
Common mistakes
- Processing a sign facing the National Highway System from a district that is neither commercial nor industrial and without an approved commercial or industrial use permit.
- Measuring the fifteen feet of setback from the pavement’s edge, when they are measured from the system’s nearest edge or boundary and besides the right-of-way easement.
- Installing the advertisement within the strip established for the official advertisements of the DTOP and the ACT.
- Placing a sign less than five hundred feet from the entrance or exit of an at-grade or grade-separated intersection.
- Placing a sign less than three hundred feet after passing an entrance to an NHS road.
- Applying other corridors’ two-hundred or three-hundred-and-fifty-foot spacing, when facing the NHS it is five hundred feet regardless of lanes.
- Counting façade advertisements when calculating the spacing between ground advertisements.
- Forgetting that spacing applies also to road confluences.
- Raising the advertisement more than sixty feet on the strength of the site’s topography.
- Counting the reversible lane when computing size, height, setback or spacing.
- Installing a framed sign without the certification of a licensed engineer or architect on its structural soundness.
- Using materials that reflect light or shadow onto the public way or interfere with driving.
- Assuming the permit is settled, when it is revoked where drivers’ safety is affected.
Frequently asked questions
May a billboard be put up facing a National Highway System road?
Only in commercial districts, industrial districts and non-zoned area, or in another calification district where a commercial or industrial use permit has been approved. It must also comply with the Chapter’s maximum sizes and with any National Highway System or Interstate Highway System rule, whichever is stricter.
What is the minimum setback from the road?
Fifteen feet from the nearest edge or boundary of the National Highway System, besides the road’s right-of-way easement.
How far from an exit may a sign be?
Signs or advertisements are not permitted at a distance of less than five hundred feet from the entrance and exit of an at-grade or grade-separated intersection, nor less than three hundred feet after passing an entrance to an NHS road.
How much spacing must there be between two advertisements?
Five hundred feet between ground advertisements on the same side of the road, regardless of the number of lanes, and the requirement applies also to road confluences. Advertisements installed on buildings’ façades are not counted for that computation.
May the permit of an already installed sign be revoked?
Yes. No sign or advertisement may affect the safety of drivers travelling the interstate road, and where that safety is affected the permit granted shall be revoked.
Official sources
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
- Department of Natural and Environmental Resources
drna
www.drna.pr.gov
- Planning Board
jp
jp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 6, 2026
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Advertisements on government land: 672 square feet, sixty feet tall and 500 of spacing
Size, quantity, spacing and height of ground advertisements by the road’s lanes, in Rule 8.7.11 of the Joint Regulation.
Your business sign: when you do not need a permit
Up to 35% of the façade or a hundred square feet, whichever is greater, with no permit. And the Single Permit already authorises fifty.
How a sign is measured and installed: size, twelve inches and eight clear feet
Each face counts separately, you may not project more than twelve inches over the pavement, and every sign needs its own electric meter.
Sign and sign-maker registry: ten dollars, a two-hundred penalty and the sign-maker licence
Registering a sign costs ten dollars and not registering it costs two hundred. The sign-maker licence is fifty a year and demands two policies.
Business signs: thirty-five per cent at the front and fifty on the sides
The ground sign depends on the lot’s frontage, and with under twenty-five feet of frontage none is permitted.
My land has no qualification: what rules apply in a non-qualified area
Where there is no qualification map the PUTPR is the reference, and a one- or two-family house is permitted ministerially.
Approached to be sent to a certain doctor or photographer: the law that bans it
Act 60-1970 makes it illegal to enter Public Works grounds intending to convince you to use a certain doctor, photographer or vehicle.