P.R. Laws tit. 23, § 225b
Whenever, in the judgment of the Puerto Rico Planning Board (hereinafter called the Board), created by §§ 62—63j of this title, any area or sector is dangerous, prejudicial or inimical to the safety, health and welfare of the occupants or users of the structures thereon located, or of the community in general, due to any of the conditions enumerated under subsection (1) of § 225 of this title, the Board shall, with the advice of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, declare the area or sector where such conditions exist a “floodable zone” and shall gather therefor, among others, the data available on the maximum levels reached by the different bodies of water during floods. The Board shall establish classifications of “floodable zones” pursuant to § 225f of this title.
The Board shall notify its intent to make such declaration to the mayor and to the local and/or regional Planning Commission of the municipality within which zone intended to be declared a “floodable zone” is located. It shall also notify the general public, through a notice to be published in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in Puerto Rico, of its intent to declare certain areas as floodable zones. Said notice shall indicate the town or towns included in the zone to be declared a “floodable zone” and that a copy of the corresponding Floodable Zone Map shall be posted on the bulletin boards of the town halls of the municipalities affected by said declaration. The notice served on the mayor and on the local or regional Planning Commission shall include the corresponding map or maps of the “floodable zone”. The Board shall also avail itself of other means such as notices through loudspeakers, circulation of handbills, posting of warnings at the town hall, courts or public buildings most frequented by the people, and other similar means, to notify the owners of lands or structures located in said zone.
In the notice itself, the mayor and all other persons concerned shall be called to a public hearing to be held before an official or employee designated by the Board, at the place and on the date and time specified by it. At the said hearing, all interested persons shall have the opportunity to appear in their own right or through counsel, to present oral or documentary evidence, cross-examine witnesses and plead as may befit their right. Between the date of the notice and that of the public hearing provided above, at least twenty (20) days shall elapse.
Not later than thirty (30) days after the hearing, the Board shall decide, according to law and in the light of the evidence submitted, whether or not to declare as “floodable zone” the one suggested as such, or any part or portions or areas thereof.
History —Sept. 27, 1961, No. 3, p. 387, § 3; June 24, 1975, No. 79, p. 253, § 2; July 3, 1979, No. 80, p. 170, § 1.