2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FIVE - Agriculture (§§ 1 — 4706) › Chapter 11 - Puerto Rico Soil Conservation (§§ 241 — 253) › § 243 - Creation of districts

(a) Any twenty-five (25) occupiers of land lying within an area proposed to be organized into a district may file a petition with the Puerto Rico Soil Conservation Committee asking that such district be organized, after consultation with and approval of the Puerto Rico Planning Board. The Committee shall prescribe the form of such petitions, which shall state: (1) the proposed name of such district; and (2) a general description of the area proposed to be organized as a district.
Where more than one petition is filed covering parts of the same territory, the Committee may consolidate such petitions. The territory of a district need not be contiguous, but shall not include any of the area of any other such district.
(b) Within thirty (30) days after the filing of such a petition, the Committee shall cause due notice to be given of a public hearing to consider the question of the need for the creation of such district; whether local public sentiment is in favor of its creation; and the area that should be included within the territorial boundaries of the district. After such hearing, if the Committee determines that there is a need for the creation of the district, and that public sentiment favors its creation, it shall define the territorial boundaries for the proposed district. Should the Committee deny any such petition to organize a district, subsequent petitions covering the same petition or substantially the same area may be filed with the Committee after six (6) months following the date of the denial of the petition.
(c) After the Committee has determined that there is a need for and public sentiment is in favor of the creation of a proposed district, it shall, within sixty (60) days thereafter, give due notice of and hold a referendum upon the question of the creation of the district, and, at the same time, hold an election to elect three (3) supervisors for such district. Nominating petitions may be filed with the Committee to nominate candidates for supervisors of such proposed district, but these must be filed at least ten (10) days prior to the election and must be subscribed by at least twenty-five (25) occupiers of lands within the proposed district. Land occupiers may sign more than one such petition.
Occupiers of lands lying within the proposed district shall be entitled to vote on the proposition of the creation of the district and in the election of district supervisors. Such voting shall be by ballots on which shall appear the words “For creation of the _____ Soil Conservation District,” and “Against creation of the ______ Soil Conservation District,” with a square before each proposition and a direction to mark the square before one or the other of the propositions as favored by the voter. The names of candidates for district supervisors, nominated as herein provided, shall also appear on such ballots with a square before each name and a direction to mark the squares before any three (3) names to indicate the voter’s preference. The Committee shall issue regulations for the conduct of, and pay all expenses incident to, such referenda and elections.
(d) The Committee shall, within a reasonable time, determine whether the operation of the proposed district would be administratively practicable and feasible; Provided, That the Committee shall not have the authority to determine in favor of the creation of the district unless at least a majority of the votes cast in the referendum shall have been cast in favor thereof. In making such determination and in determining the need for creating a proposed district, the Committee shall give due regard to the statement of motives and declaration of policy of this act, and to the topography, composition of soils, distribution of erosion, prevailing land use practices within the proposed district, the probable expense of carrying on erosion control operations within the district, and other relevant geographical, physical, economic and social factors. If the Committee determines in favor of the creation of said district it shall publish the result of the election to elect supervisors. The three (3) candidates who received the largest number, respectively, of the votes cast in the election, shall be the elected supervisors for the district. The Puerto Rico Soil Conservation Committee shall appoint with the approval of a majority of the Committee two (2) supervisors, who shall be occupiers of lands within the district, to act with the three (3) elected supervisors as the governing body of the district.
(e) To complete the organization of the district, the Committee shall present to the Secretary of State of Puerto Rico a statement setting out the name of the district and its boundaries, and certifying that the procedures prescribed in §§ 241—252 of this title for the organization of a district have been fully complied with in organizing this district. The statement shall request the Secretary of State to issue a certificate of organization to the said district. The Secretary of State shall record the said statement in his office, and shall transmit to the Committee a certificate in duplicate under the official seal of Puerto Rico, of the due organization of the said district.
(f) After six (6) months following the date of a determination by the Committee that the operation of a proposed district would not be administratively practicable and feasible, subsequent petitions covering the same or substantially the same territory may be filed as aforesaid.
(g) Petitions for adding territory to an existing district may be filed with the Committee, and the proceedings herein provided for the organization of a district shall be observed in such case.
History —Mar. 26, 1946, No. 211, p. 374, § 4, eff. July 1, 1946.