Bathing resorts, marinas and camps on the coast: what the regulation demands

It is the section of Chapter 6.4 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 governing special-use coastal developments — those that are not urbanisations or lot segregations. Its scope is triggered where the Junta Adjudicativa or the Planning Board, as corresponds, authorises a coastal development for special uses. The section sets the design and width of the public access routes, the public-parking arithmetic, a general prohibition on segregating with two set exceptions, the area of the dispensations for tombs in a cemetery project, and a list of nine minimum services and facilities for bathing resorts.

The provisions apply to land development projects that are not for the urbanisation or segregation of lots, sited within the coastal zone, and apply where the Junta Adjudicativa or the Planning Board, as corresponds, authorises a coastal development for special uses such as bathing resorts, marinas, holiday or tourist centres, recreational or mobile-home camps, amusement, sporting, port or industrial complexes, cemeteries and other uses akin to the coastal zone. The duty to accompany the schematic alignment of the routes applies to consultations whose siting adjoins the maritime-terrestrial zone or the lacustrine shore. The public-parking rule applies to non-residential developments bordering the maritime-terrestrial zone. And the minimum-facilities list applies to bathing-resort projects.

• Accompanying every location and land use consultation for complexes or special uses adjoining the maritime-terrestrial zone or lacustrine shore with the proposed schematic alignment of the public routes accessing the separation zone.Verified against the official source
• Giving preference to providing a public access route between the separation zone and parallel to it, and the lot to be developed.Verified against the official source
• That the public access routes never be less than eleven metres wide for vehicular accesses, nor three metres wide for pedestrian accesses.Verified against the official source
• In non-residential developments bordering the maritime-terrestrial zone: that the twenty-metre Separation Zone provide a minimum of one parking space for public use per ten spaces.Verified against the official source
• Not segregating land in these developments, except to make the financing of a project viable where it meets all the other regulatory requirements, or to build and operate a factory that uses or produces raw material originating in or to be processed in the industrial complex and whose industry is related to and depends on the sea, or is promoted by the Industrial Development Company and the Planning Board decides to exempt it.Verified against the official source
• In a cemetery project: that the minimum area of the dispensations to be used to build tombs be in accordance with the proposed use and with the area’s qualification.Verified against the official source
• In a bathing resort: complying with the regulation in force of the Department of Recreation and Sports.Verified against the official source
• In a bathing resort: having an efficient solid waste collection system, buoys to protect bathers, showers and sanitary services with discharges approved by the DRNA, parking, first-aid medical services, a structure cleaning and maintenance system, lifeguards, surveillance and security, and adequate signposting.Verified against the official source

• Location and land use consultation filed before OGPe, accompanied by the proposed schematic alignment of the public access routes.
• DRNA approval of the discharges from the bathing resort’s showers and sanitary services.

1. 1

   Step 1: Which developments this section covers

   The provisions apply to land development projects that are not for the urbanisation or segregation of lots, sited within the coastal zone. And they are triggered where the Junta Adjudicativa or the Planning Board, as corresponds, authorises a coastal development for special uses such as bathing resorts, marinas, holiday or tourist centres, recreational or mobile-home camps, amusement, sporting, port or industrial complexes, cemeteries and other uses akin to the coastal zone. It is an open list — it says "such as" — but it gives a good sense of the kind of project.

2. 2

   Step 2: The access alignment goes with the consultation

   Every location and land use consultation filed before OGPe for the development of land for complexes or special uses, and whose siting adjoins the maritime-terrestrial zone or lacustrine shore, shall be accompanied by the proposed schematic alignment of the public routes accessing the separation zone adjoining the coast, public beach or affected lacustrine shore. And the regulation expresses a design preference: preference will be given to providing a public access route between the separation zone and parallel to it, and the lot to be developed. On land not bordering the maritime-terrestrial zone but within the coastal zone, the Junta Adjudicativa may require an access route design when, on the basis of the general interest, it deems it convenient or necessary.

3. 3

   Step 3: Eleven metres and three metres, again

   The width rule is the same as for urbanisations. The width of the public routes serving as access to the separation zone adjoining the coast, a public beach or a lacustrine shore is determined in proportion to the project’s magnitude and to the magnitude of the population sector that uses or may use the coast, the beach or the lacustrine body for recreation. That section corresponds to the minima set in Chapter 5.1, but shall never be less than eleven metres wide for vehicular accesses, nor three metres wide for pedestrian accesses.

4. 4

   Step 4: Public parking in non-residential developments

   The twenty-metre Separation Zone required for non-residential developments bordering the maritime-terrestrial zone shall provide a minimum of one parking space for public use per ten spaces. A greater or lesser number of parking spaces may be required in the proportion, provided it is justified according to the specific project. A note on the source: the parallel rule of Section 6.4.2.3 counts one public space per ten dwelling units, while this one counts per ten spaces; the text does not clarify which spaces are meant, and we do not infer it.

5. 5

   Step 5: Segregation is barred, save two cases

   In the case of land developments covered by this section, the segregation of land is not permitted except for two purposes. The first: to make the financing of a project viable where it meets all the other regulatory requirements. The second: to build and operate a factory that uses or produces raw material originating in or to be processed in the industrial complex and whose industry is related to and depends on the sea, or is promoted by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company and the Planning Board decides to exempt it from complying with this section. Outside those two cases, the prohibition is complete. Separately, in a cemetery project the minimum area of the dispensations to be used to build tombs shall be in accordance with the proposed use and with the area’s qualification.

6. 6

   Step 6: A bathing resort’s nine minimum facilities

   Bathing-resort projects must comply with the regulation in force of the Department of Recreation and Sports, and must have nine minimum services and facilities. An efficient solid waste collection system. Buoys to protect bathers. Showers and sanitary services with discharges approved by the DRNA. Parking. First-aid medical services. A structure cleaning and maintenance system. Lifeguards. Surveillance and security. And adequate signposting. A note on the source: the list is printed with OCR artefacts where several of its numbers belong; the items read clearly and we publish all nine, in the order in which they appear.

The location and land use consultation is filed before OGPe, and evaluated by the Junta Adjudicativa or the Planning Board as corresponds. Approval of the discharges from a bathing resort’s showers and sanitary services is given by the DRNA. Compliance with the bathing-resort regulation falls to the Department of Recreation and Sports, whose regulation is not part of this chapter. And the exemption to segregate in favour of a factory promoted by the Industrial Development Company is decided by the Planning Board.

• Applying this section to a project that is an urbanisation or a lot segregation, when those go under Section 6.4.2.3.
• Filing the location consultation for a complex adjoining the maritime-terrestrial zone without the proposed schematic alignment of the public access routes.
• Ignoring the regulation’s preference for a public access route between the separation zone and parallel to it, and the lot to be developed.
• Designing a vehicular access under eleven metres wide or a pedestrian one under three.
• Omitting the public parking in the Separation Zone of a non-residential development bordering the maritime-terrestrial zone.
• Planning to sell parcels inside a coastal complex covered by this section, where segregation is prohibited save in two cases.
• Invoking the financing exception where the project does not meet all the other regulatory requirements.
• Invoking the industrial exception for a factory whose industry is neither related to nor dependent on the sea and which the Planning Board has not decided to exempt.
• Opening a bathing resort without complying with the regulation in force of the Department of Recreation and Sports.
• Operating a bathing resort without buoys to protect bathers or without lifeguards.
• Installing showers and sanitary services at a bathing resort with discharges the DRNA has not approved.
• Budgeting a bathing resort as construction only, forgetting the surveillance and security, the first-aid medical services and the structure cleaning and maintenance system.

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

• OGPe Single Business Portal

  ogpe

  www.permisos.pr.gov

• Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

  drna

  www.drna.pr.gov