P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 227c
The Plan shall be the main instrument for planning that shall govern the public policy of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in relation to the use of the land and the development and conservation of the natural resources.
The Land-Use Plan Office may put into practice the strategies, measures and instruments needed to prepare a Plan that would really attend to the long term needs of the citizens including the following:
(a) Define and use as guidelines the three main components of sustainable development: economic development, the integrity of the ecosystems and social equality.
(b) Use planning units determined to be necessary, such as, but not being limited to watersheds, that would allow the evaluation and analysis at the regional level to properly classify the land.
(c) Consider the provisions of § 3 of the Environmental Public Policy Act, as amended.
(d) Identify and evaluate the areas prone to natural risks and the areas of environmental importance, such as, but not limited to, the land with high agricultural potential; the forests for their value as wildlife promoters and for serving as areas for the collection and retention of surface and ground waters necessary for human life; the marine, estuarine and terrestrial reserves; the wildlife sanctuaries; the public domain properties; the coastal zone; Special Planning Areas and other proposed conservation and preservation areas, among others existing and proposed, in the Coastal Zone Management Plan, following the scheme established under the Coastal Zone Management Plan and the Natural Patrimony Program.
(e) Promote the adoption of sustainable and intelligent development using the new planning strategies and the most advanced technological resources.
(f) Use the existing planning legislation, programs and instruments as basic guidelines and information resources for the preparation of this Plan.
(g) Establish, in coordination with the agencies with jurisdiction over these matters, a diagnosis about the most pressing problems affecting Puerto Rico from the social, economic, physical and environment standpoint when linked to the use of the land.
(h) Review the existing programs and regulations in order to introduce the recommendations needed to achieve long-term comprehensive planning.
(i) Take into consideration the autonomy of the municipal governments so that they may capably comply with their responsibilities under §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, better known as the “Autonomous Municipalities Act”.
(j) Recommend a land classification and uniform zoning system that may be implemented by both the Planning Board and the municipalities to which competence over the territorial ordinance has been transferred according to the aforementioned Autonomous Municipalities Act, §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21.
(k) Allow citizen participation from the beginning of the process, be it through the establishment of working committees or any other method deemed necessary.
(l) Consider certain initiatives in the evaluation process that promote the sustainable development of Puerto Rico such as:
(1) The intensification of the use of the land in urban areas that will allow the revitalization and rehabilitation of the traditional urban centers of the municipalities and that discourages urban sprawl, particularly in those areas lacking infrastructure or where it is not feasible to provide the latter.
(2) The protection and conservation of the natural, environmental and cultural resources, including those of historic and archeological importance.
(3) Prevent the development of land in areas vulnerable to natural risks.
(4) Foster the interconnection of green areas by organizing the green infrastructure in our cities so that it may serve its multiple ecological and recreational functions.
(5) Preserve the land of high agricultural value so as to promote its agricultural development.
(6) Promote the development of efficient mass transportation systems.
(7) Promote public and private infrastructure planning and development as a means to propitiate the comprehensive development of the land identified as suitable.
History —Oct. 3, 2004, No. 550, § 6.