After taking into consideration the recommendations of the Territorial Ordinance Office, the municipality may order and carry out the permanent closing of any street or road within its territorial boundaries, after a public hearing is held, which shall be notified by means of written notices fixed in prominent places in the City Hall, and the street or road to be closed. A copy of said notice shall also be sent to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works and to each of the residents and those who abut the street or road in question. The notice of public hearing shall be made no later than ten (10) days prior to the date provided for it to be held, and shall include a brief description of the street or road to be closed, the date, time and place of the public hearing, as well as an exhortation for the interested citizens to participate in said hearing.
Said hearing shall be held before a committee of three (3) administrative officials of the municipality, designated by the mayor. The Committee shall render a report to the Legislature with its conclusions and recommendations, no later than thirty (30) days following the date the public hearing is concluded. The legislature shall determine in the regular session following the date on which the Committee presents its report, by resolution to such effects, whether the closing of the street or road in question shall be authorized.
The secretary of the legislature shall notify its decision with a copy of the resolution authorizing the closing or denying it, as the case may be, to the persons who attended the public hearings, and those that stated their position in writing, those who stated their interest in receiving such notice, and the neighbors directly affected thereby.
Any person who deems that he/she has been injured by a resolution of the legislature that authorizes the closing of a street or road, may impugn it before the Court of First Instance within the term of thirty (30) days counting from the date of its approval. The resolution thus impugned shall remain ineffective until the court renders its decision thereon.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to the granting of authorizations to control the access of vehicles and public use of the streets, as provided by §§ 64 et seq. of Title 23.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 10.015, renumbered as § 10.016 on Dec. 26, 1997, No. 191, § 2; renumbered as § 9.016 on Jan. 10, 1999, No. 30, § 3.