2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE NINE - Highways and Traffic (§§ 1-8 — 5725) › Chapter 2 - Uniform Signs and Advertisment Act of Puerto Rico of 1999 (§§ 51 — 56g) › Subchapter I - General Provisions (§§ 51 — 51l) › § 51e - Prohibited signs or advertisements

(a) The following types of signs or advertisements shall be prohibited on any zoning district or non-zoning area:
(1) Abandoned signs or advertisements, as so determined by ARPE.
(2) Signs or advertisements with a rotating or moving structure, except on marketing centers or high-traffic shopping centers; [Provided], That this prohibition does not apply to signs or advertisements with moving images at the level of the current technology, for example, without limitation, advertisements with changing electronic messages.
(3) Signs or advertisements placed on trees, telephone or public light posts, or on the right of way of public roads, except as provided otherwise in this chapter.
(4) Signs or advertisements placed on trailers or vehicles parked on the right of way of public roads or outside of it, for advertising purposes. This provision does not include buses, taxis or other public transportation vehicles nor to vehicles used by businesses, corporations or private companies in the course of their normal operations.
(b) Any sign or advertisement which, for unforeseen circumstances not provided in this chapter, and even meeting [t]he requirements of this chapter, may deviate the attention or impairs the visibility of persons driving motor vehicles on public roads, or may constitute a hazard to pedestrians or handicapped pedestrians on sidewalks, walkways, or paths or to the public safety shall be prohibited. Among those prohibited signs or advertisements, we find, without limitations, the following:
(1) Signs or advertisements whose placement or location obstructs the visibility of motor vehicle drivers directly on the public road.
(2) Signs or advertisements with reflectors, lights or additions that reflect rays or illumination that may dazzle or affect motor vehicle drivers. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the use of reflectors, lights or additions is prohibited on signs or advertisements allowed with technologic advances without affecting the safety of the drivers, being favored, in principle, the use of these technologic media. ARPE shall approve the use of any illuminating material or new illumination technology prior to being use in any propaganda.
(3) Signs or advertisements placed in such a way that their projecting shadows on the road may constitute a menace to traffic safety.
(4) Signs or advertisements having the shape and design of an arrow, traffic light or any other sign or traffic signal contained in the “Puerto Rico Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices” of the Department of Transportation and Public Works.
(5) Signs or advertisements containing written material which, for its small size, cannot be read when traveling in a motor vehicle at the permitted speed.
(6) Signs or advertisements that do not comply with the “Puerto Rico Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices” of the Department of Transportation and Public Works.
(7) Signs or advertisements on electric posts or on traffic light posts, or whose location constitute a hazard to public safety.
History —Dec. 22, 1999, No. 355, § 9, eff. 60 days after Dec. 22, 1999.