What may be done in agricultural reserves, natural reserves and the towns around El Yunque

It is the section of Rule 6.1.1 of Chapter 6.1 of Joint Regulation No. 9473 that governs the uses that cannot be approved ministerially in Puerto Rico’s most protected areas. Instead of a permitted-use table, the section opens a procedure: the location consultation before the Junta Adjudicativa, with recommendations from several agencies and a list of criteria the Board must apply. And it then enumerates, district by district, which uses may be considered by that route and which of them demand mandatory public hearings.

The section applies to uses not attended ministerially proposed in Agricultural Reserves, Natural Reserves or Special Planning Areas, and in the rustic soils of the municipalities of Canóvanas, Ceiba, Fajardo, Juncos, Las Piedras, Luquillo, Naguabo and Río Grande, as municipalities surrounding the Caribbean National Forest El Yunque. The per-district use lists apply to districts R-G, A-G, A-P, A-B and C-R as the text itself indicates. Housing for two additional families in A-P proceeds only where they are to be occupied by families whose principal livelihood derives from the agricultural uses of the same farm.

• Filing the use as a location consultation before the Junta Adjudicativa, because it is a use not attended ministerially in a special area.Verified against the official source
• That the area’s ecological integrity and the watersheds, irrigation channels and drainage channels be protected.Verified against the official source
• That the area’s agricultural and livestock productivity not be affected.Verified against the official source
• That the minimum basic infrastructure exist to serve the proposed use or that it can be provided without causing impact on the sector.Verified against the official source
• For uses similar to those permitted in the district: that the part of the land not be suitable for agricultural use, that the use not entail introducing activities adversely affecting the permitted uses, that the approval not entail changes in zoning, and that it not increase the need for public facilities and services beyond what is necessary.Verified against the official source
• In district A-P: that the two additional dwellings be occupied by families whose principal livelihood derives from the agricultural uses of the same farm.Verified against the official source
• In district R-G, for local commercial or service installations: a single building with gross floor area no greater than one hundred square metres and land area no greater than five hundred square metres, excluding petrol stations.Verified against the official source
• In district R-G, for churches, temples, meeting halls and non-pecuniary private clubs: that they occupy no more than one cuerda and that the gross floor area not exceed five hundred square metres.Verified against the official source
• By way of exception in R-G, A-G, A-P and A-B: a minimum frontage of thirteen linear metres and a minimum area of four hundred square metres on residential, commercial or institutional lots, except where the infiltration tests for septic wells show a larger area is required.Verified against the official source

• Recommendation from the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, which OGPe will request.
• Recommendation from the Department of Agriculture, which OGPe will request.
• Recommendation from the municipalities where the property lies and from any development office or other concerned entity.
• Recommendation from the Planning Board’s Hydrogeology Unit, in C-R districts and in any district with flood-prone areas.
• Recommendation from the Planning Board’s Physical Planning Programme, in Special Planning Areas, Agricultural and Natural Reserves or Sectoral Plans.
• Infiltration or percolation tests for septic wells, which determine the lot’s minimum size.

1. 1

   Step 1: Where this section applies

   Section 6.1.1.10 does not apply everywhere. It covers uses not attended ministerially proposed in Agricultural Reserves, in Natural Reserves or in Special Planning Areas, and additionally in the rustic soils of the municipalities surrounding the Caribbean National Forest El Yunque. For those uses, the Junta Adjudicativa may authorise them via location consultations. Variances are handled under Chapter 6.3, and exceptions under the uses discretionally permitted in R-G, A-G, A-P, A-B and C-R.

2. 2

   Step 2: El Yunque’s eight municipalities

   The regulation first explains the purpose: to conserve the Forest’s natural conditions, to protect the watersheds to guarantee potable water, to reduce contamination and to protect agricultural land. And then it says exactly where: the application is to the rustic soils of the municipalities of Canóvanas, Ceiba, Fajardo, Juncos, Las Piedras, Luquillo, Naguabo and Río Grande. There are eight, named one by one in the text; they need not be deduced from a map.

3. 3

   Step 3: Who must recommend before the decision

   OGPe does not decide alone. The section lists the recommendations it will request: from the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources; from the Department of Agriculture; from the municipalities where the property lies and from any development office or other concerned entity; from the Planning Board’s Hydrogeology Unit in C-R districts and in any district with flood-prone areas; and from the Planning Board’s Physical Planning Programme in Special Planning Areas, Agricultural and Natural Reserves or Sectoral Plans. Worth knowing before filing, because each recommendation is waiting time outside the applicant’s control.

4. 4

   Step 4: The criteria in reserves

   For reserves, the list of criteria is long and mixes the environmental with the urban: that ecological integrity be protected; that watersheds and irrigation and drainage channels be protected; that agricultural and livestock productivity not be affected; that health, safety and welfare be protected; that the supply of light and air not be impaired; that the danger of fire not be increased; that the values of neighbouring properties not be harmed; that viability, adequacy and convenience be demonstrated; that the established conditions be met; and — the one that stops most projects — that the minimum basic infrastructure exist to serve the use or can be provided without causing impact on the sector.

5. 5

   Step 5: Which uses may be permitted in general

   Two families of uses. The first are the public local or general installations related to public services and utilities. The second are uses similar to those permitted in the district, and that second one comes with four cumulative conditions: that the part of the land not be suitable for agricultural use; that the use not entail introducing activities adversely affecting the permitted uses; that the approval not entail changes in zoning; and that it not increase the need for public facilities and services beyond what is necessary. The third condition is the most overlooked: approving the use does not reclassify the land.

6. 6

   Step 6: District A-P and the two additional families

   In district A-P the section opens a very concrete possibility: housing for two families additional to the one permitted, when they are to be occupied by families whose principal livelihood derives from the agricultural uses of the same farm. It is not free housing on agricultural land: the condition is the livelihood, and it is the same farm.

7. 7

   Step 7: District R-G, with and without public hearings

   R-G is the district with the longest list. Without mandatory hearings, three things fit: recreational areas no greater than three cuerdas with accessory structures, a larger area being allowable if the site meets special considerations of scenic, historic, scientific or recreational value; local commercial or service installations, excluding petrol stations, limited to a single building with gross floor area no greater than one hundred square metres and land area no greater than five hundred square metres; and churches, temples, meeting halls and non-pecuniary private clubs when they occupy no more than one cuerda and the gross floor area does not exceed five hundred square metres. And there is a fourth category that passes only with mandatory public hearings of the Junta Adjudicativa, and only if the benefits to the community outweigh those of devoting the land to general agriculture: tourist developments, cemeteries, light industry, amusement parks, open-air cinemas and extensive commercial recreation, hardware stores with construction materials, solid waste disposal systems, and funeral homes.

8. 8

   Step 8: A-B and C-R: tourism with conditions

   In district A-B, tourist developments, holiday projects and recreational parks may be considered, with public hearings, and only if the benefits to the community outweigh those of devoting the land to forests. In district C-R the list is longer and also touristic: guest houses, tourist villas, camping areas, restaurants, cafeterias, museums, riding areas, zoos and commercial pools, provided the community derives benefits and neither the natural environment nor the resource’s permanence is put at risk. In C-R the Board may hold public hearings; in A-B the text calls for them.

9. 9

   Step 9: The lot’s minimum size

   The section closes with the most sought-after rule. Every segregation shall comply with the district’s size, but by way of exception, in R-G, A-G, A-P and A-B, residential, commercial or institutional lots will have a minimum frontage of thirteen linear metres and a minimum area of four hundred square metres, except where the infiltration tests for septic wells show a larger area is required. The minimum size of every other lot will be the result of the percolation tests, but never less than four hundred square metres. The exceptions remain subject to the conditions established, and the Board may hold a public hearing when it deems it pertinent, following Chapter 2.1 of Volume II. A note on the source: this rule names R-G, A-G, A-P and A-B, while the exceptions provision earlier in the same section names R-G, A-G, A-P, A-B and C-R; the text does not explain the difference, and neither do we.

The location consultation is filed before the Junta Adjudicativa through OGPe, which is the one that requests the recommendations from DRNA, the Department of Agriculture, the concerned municipalities, the Planning Board’s Hydrogeology Unit and the Board’s Physical Planning Programme. Public hearings, where they proceed, are held by the Junta Adjudicativa following Chapter 2.1 of Volume II of the regulation.

• Assuming a use the district table does not list can be approved ministerially in a reserve or a special planning area.
• Ignoring that the rustic soils of Canóvanas, Ceiba, Fajardo, Juncos, Las Piedras, Luquillo, Naguabo and Río Grande are subject to this section for surrounding El Yunque.
• Filing without reckoning with the time for recommendations from DRNA, the Department of Agriculture and the concerned municipalities.
• Omitting the Hydrogeology Unit’s recommendation in a C-R district or in a district with flood-prone areas.
• Proposing a use without being able to show that the minimum basic infrastructure exists to serve it or can be provided without impact on the sector.
• Believing that approving a use by consultation changes the land’s zoning, when the regulation expressly requires that it not entail it.
• Proposing a petrol station as a local commercial or service installation in R-G, which the text excludes.
• Planning more than one building, or exceeding one hundred square metres of gross floor area, in R-G’s local commercial installation.
• Exceeding one cuerda of occupation or five hundred square metres of gross floor area in a church, temple, meeting hall or non-pecuniary private club in R-G.
• Counting on approval without public hearings for a tourist development, cemetery, light industry, hardware store with construction materials, solid waste disposal system or funeral home in R-G.
• Seeking additional housing in A-P for families whose livelihood does not derive from the agricultural uses of the same farm.
• Segregating lots under four hundred square metres, which is the floor the section sets in every case.
• Using the four hundred square metres without running the infiltration tests, which may require a larger area.

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