Draft bill 71.

Summary.

The draft bill would add to Law 6 of February 1, 2006 a definition of territorial and urban planning as a public function concerned with land use, occupation and transformation. It removes the content of Article 2 and renumbers Article 3. Its governing principles address the hierarchy of plans, urban management, allocation of development burdens and benefits, recovery of increases in land value, public participation, transparency, institutional coordination and evidence based decisions. It organizes planning instruments from national policy and regional and district plans through development plans, technical regulations and management instruments. Zoning and technical rules would be subordinate to the relevant plan. The bill sets rules for direct application and defines concepts including territorial carrying capacity, simplified local plans, land trusts, improvement areas and urban maintenance associations.

The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) would formulate and approve national policy through the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning (Ministerio de Vivienda y Ordenamiento Territorial). That ministry would approve regional plans and establish a public method for measuring territorial carrying capacity. Municipalities would approve district, simplified local, partial and special plans, as well as territorial planning schemes. Implementation would operate at national, municipal, territorial and neighborhood scales. Municipalities could delimit Territorial Management Units, without giving them authority to approve plans or permits. Community Boards (Juntas Comunales) and Local Development Boards (Juntas de Desarrollo Local) would assist with territorial assessments, monitoring and participation. Municipalities could accredit community organizations and provide greater assistance to communities with less organizational capacity.

A district plan would define the territorial model and its structural provisions; detailed rules on uses, plots and building types would be developed through regulations and manuals. Technical zoning adjustments could not change land classification or permitted uses, exceed territorial carrying capacity, or grant development rights outside the plan. Private applications excluded from that procedure would be declared inadmissible by a reasoned decision. Procedures would provide for public access, free electronic access to supporting studies and the remedies under Law 38 of July 31, 2000. Regulations would set maximum periods of twelve (12) months for specified plans, six (6) months for limited amendments and technical updates, and sixty (60) business days for ministerial technical opinions. Expiry of a period for approving plans or amendments would not amount to tacit approval.

Partial and special plans would develop the district plan without replacing it. Territorial plans would have a horizon of fifteen (15) to twenty-five (25) years and would be evaluated every five (5) years. A structural review would require objective grounds and an enhanced participation procedure and, as a general rule, could not occur at intervals shorter than eight (8) years. The bill provides for limited amendments to correct errors or make nonstructural adjustments, and for extraordinary changes initiated by the authority in substantiated circumstances of public interest. Extraordinary changes would require studies, participation and a favorable opinion from the Ministry of Housing and Territorial Planning. An unfavorable opinion from the Municipal Planning Board (Junta de Planificación Municipal) on an extraordinary district plan change would require approval by two thirds (2/3) of the members of the Municipal Council (Consejo Municipal). Districts above the stated population threshold would prepare a district plan; other districts could use a simplified local plan within the bill’s limits.

To implement plans, the bill provides for economic use regimes for public facilities, urban maintenance associations, improvement areas and land trusts. It also requires deadlines for priority actions and provides for technical assistance or referral to the Office of the Attorney General for Administration (Procuraduría de la Administración) where municipal noncompliance lacks justification. It classifies municipalities by population and budget using data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas). It redefines the Municipal Planning Board’s monitoring duties and the publication of its reports. The bill also amends Law 37 of June 29, 2009, adds provisions to Law 106 of October 8, 1973 on municipal urban management capacity, and adds a provision to Law 105 of October 8, 1973 on cooperation within the corregimiento (district). It addresses implementing regulations, the continued application of existing plans during transition, municipal adaptation and pending proceedings. Its provisions could concern property owners, residents, community organizations and the housing, construction, transport and infrastructure sectors, as well as the public authorities named above.