2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-SEVEN - Public Service (§§ 1 — 2641) › PART II - Communications (§§ 265 — 539) › Chapter 22 - Construction, Installation and Placement of Telecommunications Towers Act of Puerto Rico (§§ 321 — 326) › § 323 - Construction of towers

(a) Except as provided below the construction of all telecommunications towers in a residential or rural district, according to the classifications of the Planning Board or of the autonomous municipalities authorized to issue such classifications by the Planning Board, pursuant to the Autonomous Municipalities Act, §§ 4001 et seq. of Title 21, shall keep a distance of not less than the height of the tower, plus an additional ten percent (10%), from the closest residence. This requirement shall not be applicable if the noncompliance of the provisions of this chapter was not created by the owner of the tower, but by later developments authorized by the Planning Board, in which case the tower shall remain in its original location. The location of a tower that does not comply with what is established in this subsection shall be allowed in those cases where the owner of the tower and the closest residence are one and the same titleholder, or even being different owners, the titleholder of the residence allows the location of the tower in the proposed site, through a sworn statement, provided that there is no other existing residence within the radius of distance provided by this chapter that has not consented to said location, through a sworn statement.
(b) Those requests for the construction of towers that are before the consideration of the Planning Board or the Regulations and Permits Administration, as the case may be, or those towers that, even having the corresponding permits, have not begun to be constructed, shall be bound to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
(c) The towers that have already been constructed, that have obtained their permits pursuant to the regulations, in effect prior to the approval of this act, shall not be subject to the provisions of this chapter. The Planning Board shall take the pertinent regulatory measures to allow, in accordance with its regulations, the installation of transmission stations for radio frequency “antennas” in multi-story buildings of five (5) or more levels.
(d) Despite the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, in cases where the construction and location of the tower responds to technological, emergency, or public safety demands, the Board has the power to consider variations to exempt a proponent from the requirements provided in this chapter or in the pertinent regulations; Provided, That in order to consider said variation request, the proponent shall present an endorsement before the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico that includes the factors that merit said endorsement. Furthermore, in these cases, the owner of the tower shall be bound to procure an insurance policy of no less than one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(e) The towers that have already been constructed and have not obtained the required permits pursuant to the legislation in effect at the time of their construction, shall be removed immediately.
(f) Every telecommunication tower that is located in a district that is not residential or rural shall keep a minimum distance of fifteen (15) meters from the tower to the nearest structure.
(g) The leasing of a portion of a property for the exclusive purpose of the construction, location, and use of a telecommunications tower that complies with what is established in this chapter, shall not be considered a subdivision of lands for the purposes of §§ 62 et seq. of Title 23, known as the “Puerto Rico Planning Board Organic Act”.
History —June 6, 2000, No. 89, § 5.