Terraced houses: six units per building, ten if the façade changes

It is Rule 8.1.2 of Chapter 8.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, the chapter grouping terraced houses, patio houses, apartment houses and tiny houses. The rule applies in districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A, and sets how many units fit in a building, what size and width each lot must have, how much may be occupied, what yards must be left, what separation there must be between buildings on the same lot, where accessory buildings go, and how far cornices and eaves may project. Rule 8.1.1 of the same chapter clarifies that, unless particular parameters are provided, the parameters of those districts are those of Section 6.1.1.11.

The rule applies to terraced-house projects in qualification districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A. The projects will be considered by OGPe, the Authorised Professional, the Junta Adjudicativa or the Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III. The requirement that fifty per cent of the front yard be planted applies only in districts RT-I and RT-A. And the front yard of no less than six metres applies where no vehicle parking spaces are provided inside the lot nor in a common parking area.

• No more than six dwelling units per building with equal façades on the same plane and at the same level, reaching a maximum of ten where built with different façades and at different levels.Verified against the official source
• A minimum lot area of no less than one hundred and fifty square metres.Verified against the official source
• On interior lots, a minimum lot width or frontage for each unit of no less than six metres; for the units constituting the ends of the terrace, no less than eight and a half metres.Verified against the official source
• One dwelling unit on each lot, regardless of its size.Verified against the official source
• A maximum occupation area of sixty per cent and a maximum gross floor area of one hundred and fifty per cent, with the floor area of no storey above the first exceeding the maximum permitted occupation percentage.Verified against the official source
• A front yard of no less than three metres nor more than four where the house provides parking spaces inside the lot or where a common parking area is provided; and of no less than six metres where neither is provided.Verified against the official source
• In districts RT-I and RT-A: that the front yard have a minimum of fifty per cent of its area planted.Verified against the official source
• Side yards at the building’s two ends, each with a width no less than five metres, and a rear yard with a depth no less than three metres.Verified against the official source
• Treating as a front yard any side or rear yard, or part of it, bordering a road or a public walkway six metres or more wide.Verified against the official source
• Minimum separation between buildings on the same principal lot: twelve metres between principal façades, six between rear ones, five between side ones, and nine between a principal and a side or rear one and between a side and a rear one.Verified against the official source
• A separation of no less than three metres between buildings and parking areas, park areas, walks, pedestrian walkways and other similar areas.Verified against the official source
• Locating accessory buildings or service areas for drying clothes at the rear of the buildings.Verified against the official source
• Carrying out the urbanisation works corresponding to the proposed project, and that buildings or storeys occupied by a single dwelling have their rooms functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: How many units fit in a building

   Section 8.1.2.2 is the rule that defines the project’s shape and fits in one sentence: a terraced-house building shall contain no more than six dwelling units with equal façades on the same plane and at the same level, and may reach a maximum of ten units where built with different façades and at different levels. That is, the four extra units are earned by varying the façade and the level, not by lengthening the same line of equal façades.

2. 2

   Step 2: The lot: one hundred and fifty metres and six of frontage

   The minimum lot area shall be no less than one hundred and fifty square metres. For the width there are two figures. On interior lots a minimum lot width or frontage of no less than six metres is required for each unit. And for the dwelling units constituting the ends of the terrace a minimum lot width or frontage of no less than eight and a half metres is required. The density is what surprises some: one dwelling unit on each lot, regardless of its size. A larger lot does not entitle you to more than one unit in this format.

3. 3

   Step 3: Occupation and gross floor area

   The maximum occupation area is sixty per cent. The maximum gross floor area is one hundred and fifty per cent. And there is a condition repeated throughout the regulation and worth not forgetting in design: the floor area of any storey above the first may in no case exceed the maximum permitted occupation percentage. A note on the source: Table 8.1 breaks across a page right at that row, so the sentence is split and the table caption repeats; we join the sentence and publish the row as one requirement.

4. 4

   Step 4: The front yard depends on the parking

   Here is the rule that most changes a terrace’s design. Where the terraced house provides vehicle parking spaces inside the lot, or where a common parking area is provided, a front yard with a depth no less than three metres nor more than four metres is required. But where no vehicle parking spaces are provided inside the lot nor in a common parking area, the front yard depth shall be no less than six metres. And in districts RT-I and RT-A, the front yard shall additionally have a minimum of fifty per cent of its area planted.

5. 5

   Step 5: The side yards go at the ends

   By the building’s own shape, the side yards do not go between units but at the ends: terraced-house buildings require side yards at their two ends, and each required yard shall have a width no less than five metres. The rear yard is a single one, with a depth no less than three metres. And there is a rule applying to both: any side or rear yard, or part of it, bordering a road or a public walkway six metres or more wide is treated as a front yard and observes that yard’s requirements.

6. 6

   Step 6: The separation between buildings

   Where there is more than one terraced-house building on the same principal lot, the regulation sets a table of minimum separations in metres. Between principal façades: twelve. Between rear façades: six. Between side façades: five. Between a principal façade and a side or rear one: nine. And between a side façade and a rear one: nine. Besides, a separation of no less than three metres shall be observed between the buildings and the parking areas, park areas, walks, pedestrian walkways and other similar areas.

7. 7

   Step 7: Accessories, parking and projections

   Accessory buildings or service areas for drying clothes shall be located at the rear of the buildings. Common parking areas, if any, shall comply with what Chapter 8.5 of the same volume establishes for area design. And projections such as cornices, eaves, roofs and other architectural features may extend into the required yards or separations up to one metre within the required front and rear yards, provided they observe a separation of no less than one and a half metres from any side or rear boundary line of the lot.

8. 8

   Step 8: Urbanisation works and single-family use

   The rule closes with two brief demands. The urbanisation works corresponding to the proposed project shall be carried out. And buildings or storeys of buildings occupied or used by a single dwelling shall have their rooms functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family. That second sentence is what prevents, for instance, internally dividing a terrace unit into two separate dwellings. Separately, Rule 8.1.1 of the same chapter clarifies that the design parameters applying to districts R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I and RT-A, unless particular parameters are provided, are those of Section 6.1.1.11 of Chapter 6.1 in Volume VI.

Terraced-house projects will be considered by OGPe, an Authorised Professional, the Junta Adjudicativa or an Autonomous Municipality with Hierarchy I to III, according to each one’s scope. The procedure is that of the construction permit or the Permiso Único. The property’s qualification — R-B, R-I, R-U, RT-I or RT-A — is read on the Planning Board’s qualification maps, and whether the rule applies depends on that qualification.

• Planning more than six units in a building with equal façades on the same plane and at the same level.
• Exceeding ten units in a building, even with different façades and at different levels.
• Using six metres of frontage for the terrace’s end units, which ask for eight and a half metres.
• Counting on more than one dwelling unit per lot because the lot is large, when the density is one per lot regardless of size.
• Leaving the front yard at three or four metres where no parking spaces are provided inside the lot nor a common parking area, in which case the minimum is six metres.
• Forgetting the fifty per cent of the front yard planted in districts RT-I and RT-A.
• Omitting the five-metre side yards at the building’s two ends.
• Treating as a side or rear yard a strip bordering a road or a public walkway six metres or more wide, when it counts as a front yard.
• Placing buildings on the same principal lot less than twelve metres apart between principal façades.
• Leaving less than three metres between the buildings and the parking, park, walk or pedestrian-walkway areas.
• Siting the accessory buildings or the clothes-drying area at the front of the buildings.
• Designing a storey above the first with a floor area greater than the maximum permitted occupation percentage.
• Extending a projection more than one metre into the yard, or closer than one and a half metres to a side or rear boundary line.
• Internally dividing a terrace unit into two dwellings, when the rooms must be functionally related to one another for the exclusive use of one family.

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