What the Planning Board charges for each procedure

These are the fees the Planning Board charges for services, publications, documents and studies. The fee regulation sets the framework — who may request what, how it is requested, what is not reproduced — and leaves the amounts to an administrative order. This guide joins the two pieces: what the regulation says about the procedure and what order JP-OA-2019-01 says about the money.

Any interested person may request the services the regulation describes. There are no residence or professional-representation requirements to ask for a copy or examine a file. That said, the regulation itself empowers the Board’s President, or their delegate, to distribute copies of publications, documents or studies free of fees to universities, public or private schools, agencies or persons where in their judgement it is warranted; that request is submitted in writing with the justifications, and where granted delivery is digital only.

• Requesting the service in person at the Board’s Customer Service Unit, or by email or ordinary post following the procedure set by administrative order.Verified against the official source
• Completing the corresponding form and taking an appointment, where what you want is to examine a file in person.Verified against the official source
• Making the corresponding payment: the regulation says requested copies are delivered as soon as payment is made.Verified against the official source
• Submitting in writing, with due justification, any request to obtain a publication, document or study free of charge; for agencies, signed by the agency head, director or authorised official.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Where the figures actually live

   If you open the Fee Collection Regulation looking for prices, you will not find them. The regulation describes the services, the procedure and the restrictions, and refers the amounts to an administrative order. The order the Board links from its own page is JP-OA-2019-01, "Collection Administrative Order". That is the document where the numbers live, and that is why it is worth checking whether a later one exists before taking a figure as good.

2. 2

   Step 2: Consultations, zoning and waivers

   The planning procedures proper: a Master Plan costs $750 plus $150 per cuerda, and amending it $250. An extension is $50. A direct zoning change, $500. A waiver, $100. A strategic project, $150. Asking for provisions to be clarified, $75. Filing away a case, $50. And an amendment to the Zoning Map, $250.

3. 3

   Step 3: Certifications: the ones most often asked for

   Certifications cost $50. That includes the flood-hazard certification, the one a bank, an insurer or a permit office usually asks for. Lambert coordinates cost $25. And where you need the Secretary to certify documents from the file, it is $5 per document plus the reproduction cost. One important exception: the Coastal Zone certification is not paid at the Board; the order says it is paid at the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.

4. 4

   Step 4: Public hearings and recordings

   A public hearing is $250 plus the cost of the room. If what you want is a hearing recording, it is $10 per CD. Postage, where the Board mails something to you, is $2 for ordinary mail and $10 for certified mail.

5. 5

   Step 5: Historic heritage and school zones

   Designating or processing a historic site costs $150. A historic zone costs $150 plus $25 per property. A school zone costs $250 plus $50 per property. These are two-part fees: a base plus a charge for each property included, which makes the final price depend on the size of the area.

6. 6

   Step 6: Floods, reserves and technical studies

   Here are the highest charges in the schedule. Releasing a reserve costs $1,500. Amending the Flood-Prone Zones Map is $500 plus $50 per cuerda. Specialised studies start at a $1,000 base. And reviewing hydrological-hydraulic studies costs $800. If your project touches a flood zone, these are the line items worth budgeting early.

7. 7

   Step 7: GIS data

   The Board sells geodata. Island-wide geodata costs $150; a single municipality, $35. Preparation labour is charged at $4.19 per minute — which the order also expresses as $251 per hour — and a format change costs $25.

8. 8

   Step 8: What they will not photocopy for you

   The regulation sets a clear limit. Where a file contains internal Board documents — legal opinions, internal memoranda, confidential documents, technical or economic analyses, drafts of letters or resolutions, drafts of agreement sheets not previously notified — those documents are not available for reproduction, unless the Board has expressly incorporated them into the file. They are not among the services charged because, quite simply, they are not provided.

9. 9

   Step 9: The free copy that does exist

   The Board’s President, or the official they delegate, is empowered to distribute copies of publications, documents or studies free of fees to universities, public or private schools, agencies or persons, where in their judgement it is necessary and circumstances warrant it. The request goes in writing with justification of the need, and for agencies signed by the agency head, director or authorised official. Where granted, delivery is digital only.

In person at the Planning Board’s Customer Service Unit, in the North Building of the Roberto Sánchez Vilella Government Center, Santurce. Copies of documents, publications and files may also be requested by email or ordinary post, following the procedure set by administrative order. To examine a file in person you complete the corresponding form and are given an appointment; on the agreed date the applicant reviews the file alongside the designated official and selects the documents to be photocopied.

• Looking for prices in the Fee Regulation: it has none, they are in the administrative order.
• Budgeting a Master Plan at the $750 base without adding the $150 per cuerda.
• Paying the Coastal Zone certification at the Board: the order says it is paid at DRNA.
• Forgetting that a public hearing costs $250 plus the cost of the room, not $250 in total.
• Counting a historic or school zone without the per-property charge.
• Assuming a whole file can be photocopied: internal documents and drafts are excluded.
• Not asking about free distribution where the request comes from a school, university or agency.

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 Fee Collection Regulation

  jp

  docs.pr.gov