FULLANA CORPORATION v. Puerto Rico Planning Board

• Decision Date: 26 June 1958
• Docket Number: No. 5270.,5270.
• Parties: FULLANA CORPORATION, Petitioner, Appellant, v. PUERTO RICO PLANNING BOARD, Respondent, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

257 F.2d 355 (1958)

FULLANA CORPORATION, Petitioner, Appellant, v. PUERTO RICO PLANNING BOARD, Respondent, Appellee.

No. 5270.

United States Court of Appeals First Circuit.

Heard February 5, 1958.

Decided June 26, 1958.

Jose Antonio Luina, Santurce, P. R., for appellant.

Francis Gonzalez Oliver, Santurce, P. R., for appellee.

Before MAGRUDER, Chief Judge, and MARIS and WOODBURY, Circuit Judges.

WOODBURY, Circuit Judge.

The record in this case, to say the least, is confused and confusing. But when straightened out and analysed only a simple question emerges.

To begin at the beginning, it appears that on March 26, 1954, the Puerto Rico Planning Board, formerly the Puerto Rico Planning, Urbanizing and Zoning Board, established under Act No. 213 of 1942, Laws of Puerto Rico 1942, page 1106, known as the Puerto Rico Planning, Urbanizing and Zoning Act, as amended in particular by Act No. 434 of 1951, Laws of Puerto Rico 1951, page 1226, 23 L.P.R.A. § 1 et seq., after notice and public hearing at which the appellant was represented, amended its Planning Regulation No. 3 by inserting Article 76 which provided that:

"* * * before approving subdivisions to be developed under these provisions, the Board shall determine by resolution the maximum selling price per lot, or per lot and residential dwelling to be constructed in these subdivisions."

Soon thereafter, on May 5, 1954, also after notice and public hearing, the Board entered its Order No. P-39 wherein it ruled that:

"* * * the maximum selling price for each house and lot in developments constructed for low-cost housing facilities, under the provisions of Article 76 of Planning Regulation No. 3 (land subdivision) shall not exceed the sum of $6,000."

It does not appear whether Fullana was represented at the hearing preceding the issuance of this Order or not, but it does appear that it was given notice of the Order soon after it was entered.

On the same day that the Board entered its Order P-39, May 5, 1954, the Board issued its Resolution No. L-16,393 giving approval, with modifications, to a petition filed by the Fullana Corporation under Subdivision Regulation No. 3, supra, for leave to subdivide a 200 acre tract in Rio Piedras into low cost housing units. In this Resolution the Board authorized Fullana to prepare construction plans, and in it the Board noted that each house and lot "* * * shall be sold at a price not exceeding $6,000 including the lot, in accordance with the provisions of Article 76 of the Subdivision Regulation, as well as with Resolution P-39, which establishes the maximum price for the sale of the house and lot in this type of subdivision." A copy of this Resolution was served on Fullana.

On May 26, 1954, the Board, after public hearing, by its Resolution Z-466 authorized Fullana to construct low cost housing units on its tract and on the same day by Resolution No. L-16,549 it approved Fullana's "Partial Construction Plan" for its development, which it called "Reparto Metropolitano." In this Resolution the Board reiterated that the price of each house and lot was not to exceed $6,000, and specifically stated that this limitation applied without regard to the size of the lot, which it said could not be less than 252 square meters, and said that it made this ruling in spite of authorization by the Federal Housing Administration of an increase in the price of houses on lots of greater area. On October 14, 1954, by a so-called "Extension" of this last Resolution, the Board gave its approval in greater detail to Fullana's partial construction plan and again reiterated its position as to price, stating:

"The Planning Board calls the attention to the fact that the authorization of the Federal Housing Administration for an increase in the price of lots greater than 252 square meters is not in conformance with Resolution P-39 of this Board, and, consequently the developer may not make use of this clause limiting the price to $6,000 for a lot and house, independent of the size of the lot, which shall not be less than 252 sq. mts."

The Fullana Corporation did not petition for reconsideration of any of the actions of the Board outlined above, or make any attempt to obtain review thereof by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico under § 26 of the Act as amended. See Laws of Puerto Rico, 1951, page 1242.

On January 20, 1955, the Board by Report L-17,709 gave its approval to Fullana's "Partial Record Final Plan of Housing Development `Reparto Metropolitano' in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico," wherein it reiterated practically verbatim the above quotation from its Resolution L-16,549. Nevertheless on February 2, 1955, Fullana filed a petition with the Board asking for leave to sell house and lot No. 242 of Block M-8 on its plan, which had an area of 310 square meters, for the minimum price of $6,000 plus $5.00 for each square meter of the lot in excess of 275 square meters, and also requesting "that the same adjudication be made in connection with each and every one of the lots of said `Reparto Metropolitano' having an area in excess of 275 square meters." On May 4, 1955, the Board by an "Addition," so-called, to its Report L-17,709 dismissed this petition on the ground that in substance and effect it was a petition for reconsideration of the earlier Board actions fixing the price of houses and lots in Reparto Metropolitano and that the 15-day limit fixed in § 26 of the Act as amended for petitions for reconsideration of those actions had long since expired. Fullana was served with notice of this action of the Board on May 12, 1955, and on May 27,...