Planting standards: six feet tall, species proportions and the distances

It is Rule 3.4.3 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, titled Planting Standards, inside Chapter 3.4 on Environmental Permits. It is the rule that says how to plant what Rule 3.4.2 orders planted: the size and condition of the tree, the species proportions, the project areas where planting may go, the safety distances to corners, hydrants, structures, power lines and boundaries, and the protection measures for trees conserved during the works. It is applied through the Forestation or Compensation Plan filed with the Incidental Operational Single Permit.

The standards apply to every planting the Regulation requires in a construction or land-development project, and the protection measures apply to every existing tree that will remain during construction. The only height variation the regulation recognises is for social-interest projects, where the minimum drops from six to four feet. The protection obligations fall expressly on the developer and on the permit applicant.

• That every tree to be planted be a minimum of six feet tall and reach the size of a small, medium or large tree in adulthood. In social-interest projects, the minimum is four feet.Verified against the official source
• That at the moment of planting the foliage be distributed over two thirds of the tree and not only in its upper section, palms excepted.Verified against the official source
• That the tree have a main stem with no damage caused by tools or other objects, green foliage free of insects or any disease, and a root system in the form of a ball protected against dryness.Verified against the official source
• That the species keep the fixed proportions: a maximum of twelve per cent palms, a minimum of ten per cent of species providing food to wildlife, sixty per cent native and endemic and, lastly, exotics.Verified against the official source
• That the species providing food for wildlife be selected from the list included in Act 97-1998.Verified against the official source
• That the safety distances be met: nothing closer than thirty feet from street corners, nothing closer than ten feet from a fire hydrant, and the minimum distances to structures of five, seven and ten feet depending on whether the tree is small, medium or large.Verified against the official source
• That every tree remaining near an excavation or construction be protected with a temporary fence of a minimum height of four feet, placed at a distance not less than the drip line.Verified against the official source
• That existing trees to be conserved or transplanted be duly marked to tell them apart from those that must be removed.Verified against the official source

• The Forestation or Compensation Plan, where these standards become the specification of species, quantities and planting location on the project’s survey plan.
• The identification on the plan of existing trees to be conserved or transplanted, duly marked to tell them apart from those being removed.

1. 1

   Step 1: The tree: six feet, or four in social interest

   Every tree to be planted must be a minimum of six feet tall and must reach the size of a small, medium or large tree in adulthood. For social-interest projects, the trees to be planted must have a minimum height of four feet. That is the only height reduction the regulation recognises.

2. 2

   Step 2: What condition the tree must be in when planted

   Four characteristics at the moment of planting. The foliage must be distributed over two thirds of the tree and not only in its upper section, palms excepted. The tree must have a main stem with no damage caused by tools or other objects. The foliage must be green and free of insects or any disease. And the tree’s root system must be in the form of a ball, protected against dryness.

3. 3

   Step 3: The mix: 12% palms, 10% food, 60% native

   The species selected must keep these proportions: a maximum of twelve per cent palms and a minimum of ten per cent of species providing food to wildlife, sixty per cent native and endemic species and, lastly, exotics. The species providing food for wildlife are selected from the list included in Act 97-1998, known as the Act to Promote the Planting of Trees Whose Fruits or Seeds Provide Food to Wild Bird Species of Puerto Rico. We did not read that list, so we reproduce no species here: you must go to the act.

4. 4

   Step 4: Where the planting may go inside the project

   The planting areas inside a project include, but are not limited to, the solares, the communal and recreational areas, the parking area, the slopes and the buffer zones. Planting is also allowed in existing or proposed public planting strips in that project, with two caps: only a maximum of two trees may be planted in the kerb area in front of the residence, and on corner solares up to a maximum of four trees. Large trees are not permitted where those areas are less than eight feet wide and could affect underground infrastructure or overhead electrical lines.

5. 5

   Step 5: Thirty feet from the corner, ten from the hydrant

   As a safety measure, no tree may be planted less than thirty feet from street corners, measured from the nearest intersection point. And no tree at all may be planted less than ten feet from a fire hydrant. Against existing or proposed structures the minimum distances depend on the tree’s adult size: small trees keep a minimum of five feet, medium trees seven feet and large trees ten feet.

6. 6

   Step 6: Power lines: inside the easement, nothing

   Inside right-of-way easement strips for overhead electrical systems no tree planting is permitted. Any tree or its branches planted near electrical lines must stay at a minimum distance of fifteen feet from the nearest line when the tree reaches its maximum growth, outside the AEE’s right-of-way easement. And planting trees in easement strips for underground electrical systems is not permitted. The calculation is made with the tree’s adult size, not the size it has the day you plant it.

7. 7

   Step 7: The boundary: how often and how far

   If small trees are chosen, the spacing between trees is every ten linear feet along the boundary of the project’s plot — not of the main finca — and at a minimum distance of six feet seven inches, or two metres, measured from the boundary. If medium trees are chosen, the minimum spacing between trees is twenty feet, and for large trees thirty feet, at a minimum distance of ten feet or three metres measured from the boundary.

8. 8

   Step 8: The trees that stay: the drip line rules

   To avoid damage or the unnecessary destruction of trees that will remain during construction, it is prohibited to cut trees in project areas that will not be affected by earth movement; to install or adhere any kind of material, sign, cable, shelf or other material other than the tree’s structure; and to make any excavation within the drip line affecting the roots. Every tree remaining near an excavation or construction must be protected with a temporary fence of a minimum height of four feet, placed at a distance not less than the drip line. Waste, zahorra, rubbish, debris and any disposable material must be kept outside the area covered by the fence, and no one may dig ditches or trenches or build inside the area bounded by the drip line.

9. 9

   Step 9: Do not compact, do not change the elevation, do not pave

   The ground over the drip line may not be compacted so as not to affect the roots, so access routes for heavy equipment must be established over that ground. The elevation within the drip-line area of the tree that is to remain may not be raised or lowered; if earth movement altering the existing elevation is necessary, a permanent edge, wall or retaining wall is built around the affected area for its protection. Root cutting must be avoided where possible; if unavoidable, it is done outside the drip area and the intervened part must be covered with soil and watered immediately, and pruning the branches overhanging the cut roots is recommended to balance the roots and the tree’s crown. No one may deposit, store or keep blocks, stones, sand, cement or any other material preventing free access of water, air, fertiliser or any other treatment to any part of the tree. And no paving is permitted closer than four feet from the trunk of an existing tree that is to remain.

10. 10

    Step 10: Who answers if it is not complied with

    In every project, the developer and the permit applicant are obliged to comply with all the protection measures described. Otherwise they may be exposed to fines and sanctions from the Planning Board or the DRNA. Existing trees to be conserved or transplanted must be duly marked to tell them apart from those that must be removed: that marking is the first thing looked at in an inspection.

These standards are not filed separately: they are applied inside the Forestation or Compensation Plan prepared and signed by an OGPe-authorised IA de Siembra and accompanying the Incidental Operational Single Permit in the SUI. The protection measures for trees to be conserved are verified on site during the works, and non-compliance exposes the developer and the applicant to fines and sanctions from the Planning Board or the DRNA.

• Planting trees under six feet in a project that is not social interest.
• Going above twelve per cent palms or below sixty per cent native and endemic species.
• Omitting the ten per cent of wildlife-food species from the Act 97-1998 list.
• Planting less than thirty feet from a street corner or less than ten feet from a fire hydrant.
• Planting inside an AEE overhead easement, or calculating the fifteen feet with the tree’s current size instead of its maximum growth.
• Planting large trees in strips under eight feet wide with underground infrastructure or overhead lines.
• Placing the protection fence closer to the trunk than the drip line, or not placing it at all.
• Compacting the ground over the drip line with heavy equipment traffic.
• Paving closer than four feet from the trunk of a tree promised to be conserved.

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

• Department of Natural and Environmental Resources

  drna

  www.drna.pr.gov