P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4607
The Planning Board and the municipalities are hereby empowered to decree moratoriums for the total or partial suspension of new authorizations or permits for the use, construction or installation of billboards or notices. The moratorium may be decreed for the drafting or total or partial review of the ordinance plans, as may be pertinent, according to the provisions of this section. The municipality may only decree said moratoriums regarding those authorizations or permits that are part of the territorial ordinance powers which have been transferred to it according to § 4610 of this title. The Planning Board may decree the moratorium when the municipality has failed to receive the transfer of powers pertaining to the authorizations or permits concerned. In both cases the procedure shall be as follows:
(a) Procedure to declare a moratorium when the municipality lacks territorial ordinance powers.— A municipality that wishes to draft or review an ordinance plan and has failed to obtain the total or partial transfer of the territorial ordinance powers by virtue of § 4610 of this title, may request that the Planning Board decree, through resolution, a moratorium for the total or partial suspension of new authorizations or permits that are within the jurisdiction of the Board or the Permit Management Office. The moratorium may be applied to a specific area or to the territory in its totality and may entail the suspension of procedures still pending on case filed with the Planning Board or the Permit Management Office, except for granting use permits for constructions carried out legally before the date of effectiveness of a moratorium. In those cases in which more than one municipality agrees to jointly draft an ordinance plan, or review one already in effect, the moratorium petition must be drafted and subscribed by each of the municipalities. The moratorium to be decreed by the Planning Board must comply with the following:
(1) The moratorium petition of the municipality to the Planning Board shall require the approval of the Municipal Legislatures through ordinance and be accompanied by a detailed and thorough report stating all the grounds which justify the same. Should more than one municipality be engaged in the process of drafting or reviewing a joint ordinance plan, the approval of the various Municipal Legislatures of the municipalities involved shall be required. Said petition and report shall be available at the town hall of the petitioning municipality or municipalities and at the Office of the Secretary of the Planning Board for public examination.
(2) The Planning Board shall evaluate the petition and may request additional information or studies on those matters it deems pertinent, as well as hold public hearings to receive information on the same. After evaluating the petition and all the information compiled, the public policies, the legislation and applicable regulations, the Board may issue a resolution ordering the moratorium as requested by the municipality or may modify or reject it in its totality, indicating the grounds for upholding its determination.
(3) The designation of a moratorium by the Planning Board shall be published in at least one of the newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico and shall be notified to the petitioning municipality or municipalities, as the case may be, to the Permit Management Office and to the other government agencies concerned. The moratorium shall be put in effect by the Planning Board, the Permit Management Office and the other agencies concerned.
(b) Procedure to decree a moratorium when the municipality has territorial ordinance powers.— A municipality may, after obtaining total or partial transfer of the territorial ordinance powers pursuant to § 4610 of this title, order a moratorium for the total or partial suspension of new authorizations or permits included within the powers it has acquired to draft or review an ordinance plan. Said moratorium, which may apply to the municipal territory in its totality or to a part thereof, as the case may be, may entail the suspension of procedures still pending on cases filed, except for granting use permits for constructions carried out legally before the date of effectiveness of a moratorium. Any moratorium decreed by a municipality, or decreed by more than one municipality, when they are to draft an ordinance plan jointly, must comply with the following:
(1) The moratorium shall require the approval of the Municipal Legislature, through ordinance, and be accompanied by a detailed and thorough report stating all the grounds which justify the same. Should more than one municipality be engaged in the process of drafting or reviewing a joint ordinance plan, the approval of the various Municipal Legislatures of the municipalities involved shall be required. The report shall be made available at the town hall of the petitioning municipality or municipalities.
(c) Other considerations.— Any moratorium ordered by virtue of this section shall have an effectiveness of not more than one year and its objective shall be to expedite the drafting or review of the ordinance plans. The moratorium shall establish the conditions, if any, that allow exempting from its provisions certain works or projects. The Planning Board shall establish the procedures and limitations of the moratorium through regulations.
The Planning Board is furthermore authorized, should it believe that it is desirable or necessary, to decree total or partial moratoriums in order to draft or review the design plans for the use of the land and their regulations.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 13.009; Oct. 29, 1992, No. 84, § 66.