Once the urban center of a municipality has been delimited, or in those cases that the municipalities have an area, or historic zone plan, the Office of the Director in coordination with the Planning Board and the mayor, or the Territorial Ordinance Office of the municipalities with area or historic zone, plans and observing the norms of the Territorial Ordinance Plans in effect, if any, shall draft the Rehabilitation Plan determining the sequence of the projects to be carried out in order to achieve the following purposes:
(1) Achieve the blending of the urban uses and activities or the consolidation of the city.
(2) Improve sidewalks to make them pedestrian friendly.
(3) Provide access to an integrated modern mass transportation system.
(4) Achieve the economic, social, and cultural development of the centers.
(5) Promote the rehabilitation or improvement of roads, streets, sidewalks, public services, recreational areas, buildings, structures, and facilities in abutting the urban center.
(6) Achieve the densification of the urban space through the restoring or renewal of housing in multi-use or multi-level structures that reserve spaces for commercial use on the first levels, to guarantee, the peace and health of the residents and non-residents of the urban centers in compliance with the regulations in effect.
(7) Stimulate the improvement of the condition and installation of the infrastructure of essential public or private services, such as electric power, water, sanitary sewers, telephone and cable, cisterns, emergency power generators, among others. Provided, That the pertinent public or private entities shall be required to include the underground installation of their respective infrastructure services lines presently located above ground in the urban center, in their Five (5) Year Development Plan.
(8) Promote the installation of urban furnishing, public squares, theaters, and open spaces that will propitiate the enjoyment and relaxation of the residents.
(9) Locate the offices of the federal, Commonwealth, and municipal governments in the urban center, so that they may bring their services to the residents and inject economic activity into the sector.
(10) Stimulate the development and establishing of businesses that provide essential services in the urban center on an extended business hour basis, so that the residents who work outside of the area, may have places available where they can obtain essential goods and services such as: laundry, home delivery of health and pharmaceutical services, tutoring and child and elderly care centers, groceries, and shopping or public service needs.
(11) Expedite the availability of public parking areas or buildings and urban transportation in an extended business hour basis in these urban centers, including school transportation, and routes which are not served that can connect them from and to the urban canters, and shopping centers, government, recreational, sport, cultural, and educational centers.
The Territorial Ordinance Office of municipalities that have an area or historic zone plans, or the Office of the Director shall be responsible for implementing a speedy process with said municipalities so that the rehabilitation plan of the urban center can be established within an non-extendable term of six (6) months as of the delimitation of the center of each specific municipality.
The Chairperson of the Planning Board shall be responsible for expediting the consideration of Territorial Ordinance Plans and the area plans submitted before the pertinent agencies.
The agencies shall include in the respective Four-Year Investment Programs in effect at the time of the approval of this act, and shall give them priority in their budgets for the fiscal years corresponding to the projects they shall perform for the rehabilitation of the urban centers, pursuant to the rehabilitation plans drafted by the Office of the Director and the area plans drafted by the municipalities for that purpose. Both the Office of the Director as well as the municipalities shall draft said plans in close consultation with the agencies that shall be responsible for the rehabilitation projects.
The Department of Transportation and Public Works shall include and give priority to the projects designated in the rehabilitation plans at the time of drafting the Four-Year Investment Plan, and, the Management and Budget Office shall likewise include the corresponding item for each project, in the budget of each fiscal year that is submitted to the Legislature.
History —Aug. 29, 2002, No. 212, § 3.02.