A. ZONES:
For the purposes of this regulation, the entire first district of the city of Buenos Aires is divided into the following zones:
1. Art. 3. "Industrial Agricultural" Zone. (ZAI) 2. Art. 4. "Existing Forest" Zone. (ZBE) 3. Art. 5. "Commercial" Zone. (ZC) 4. Art. 6. "Institutional Public" Zone. (ZPI) 5. Art. 7. "Airport Protection" Zone. (ZPA) 6. Art. 8. "Industrial" Zone. (ZI) 7. Art. 9. "Parks and Recreation Area" Zone (ZPR) 8. Art. 10. "Housing" Zone. (ZV) 9. Art.11. "Agricultural and Livestock" Zone. (ZA) 10. Art. 12. "River Protection" Zone. (ZPR) 11. Art. 13. "Mixed Commercial" Zone. (ZCM) 12. Art. 14. "Light Industrial" Zone. (ZIL) 13. Art. 15. "Reforestation Buffer" Zone. (ZAR) 14. Art. 16. "Agricultural Parcels" Zone. (ZPAG) 15. Art. 17. "Urban Expansion" Zone. (ZEU) 16. Art. 18. "Agricultural Industrial" Zone. (ZIA) 17. Art. 19. "Rural" Zone. (ZR) 18. Art. 20. "Minor Populated" Centers. (ZPM) 19. Art. 21. "Road Rights".
All the aforementioned zones except the rural and minor populated centers ones correspond to the city of Buenos Aires and its surroundings, and are defined on the zoning map.
The Rural Zone is defined as "the rest of the area of the canton of Buenos Aires." When a lot or property (finca) is divided by a boundary between zones, the regulations of either one may be extended (or not), to the rest of the lot or property up to a maximum distance of 100 m, both in depth and frontage, from said boundary at the discretion of the municipality, upon application for change by the interested party.
B. USES:
For the purpose of regulating the uses of each zone, these are classified into:
Permitted Uses:
Which is that urban or rural use of a lot or property (finca), to which the owner has the right to destine it, constructing the necessary facilities, without further restrictions than those indicated here and prior to the processing of the corresponding permits. Permitted uses are listed for each zone. They shall be processed according to Executive Decree No. 27967, of July 6, 1999.
Conditional Uses:
A conditional (or conditioned) use is one that, even if not permitted, may be allowed in a zone upon prior special authorization from the Municipality and the Directorate of Urbanism of INVU and must resolve in accordance with Law No. 8220, setting for each case the restrictions to which it is subject or the requirements it must meet. Conditional uses are also listed for each zone.
Non-Conforming Uses:
A non-conforming use is one that does not conform to the zoning indicated on the zoning map but that existed on the date this regulation came into effect.
C. LIMITATIONS ON NON-CONFORMING USES: Any use of land, buildings, or structures existing on the effective date of this regulation that does not correspond to the indicated zoning, may be continued with the following limitations:
1. It may not be expanded, reconstructed, or remodeled partially or totally without prior authorization from the Municipality and the Directorate of Urbanism.
2. It may not be changed to another non-conforming use, unless this other is compatible with the zone use, at the discretion of the Municipality and the Directorate of Urbanism.
D. ZONE CERTIFICATE. At the request of any interested party, the Municipality shall issue a zone certificate, which shall state the zone corresponding to a particular lot or property (finca). The Municipality may charge a fee for issuing this certificate. Art. 28 of the Urban Planning Law No. 4240.
This certificate shall be required in the following cases:
1. For the purposes of segregations, the zone certificate shall be required for municipal approval (visado) and must state that it has been duly acknowledged by the lawyer executing the deeds and the public registry officer.
2. For the purposes of construction, expansion, remodeling, or reconstruction permits for buildings or developments (urbanizaciones), the zone certificate must be obtained beforehand, and plans approved (visados) by other public agencies, such as the Ministry of Health and the Directorate of Urbanism, will not be accepted if the certificate does not state that it has been shown and duly acknowledged by the respective entities.
3. For the purposes of applying for a conditional use, change, remodeling, expansion, or reconstruction of a non-conforming use, the zone certificate will also be required by the Municipality, and that it has been seen by the Directorate of Urbanism.
4. For its part, the Municipality may discretionarily require the zone certificate for the purposes of granting business licenses (patentes), deed approvals (visados), or any others.
E. CONSTRUCTION PERMITS, LICENSES, AND APPROVALS.
5. The municipality shall only grant permits for the construction, expansion, or remodeling of buildings and developments (urbanizaciones) when these do not contravene the zoning or any of the provisions of this regulation. When applicable, the document recording the permit for construction, expansion, or remodeling of buildings or developments shall establish the other requirements affecting the work.
6. Likewise, licenses (patentes) or use permits for any property shall only be granted if the requested use conforms to the zoning and the provisions of this regulation.
7. The approval (visado) referred to in Article 33 of the Urban Planning Law shall only be granted to lots resulting from subdivision (fraccionamiento) and development (urbanización), if the resulting portions meet the requirements established in this regulation, in addition to the general norms.
8. Activities with a minimal degree of nuisance:
Health Permit, for the purpose of nuisance containment. IMAS Study in case the family requires economic assistance to justify work at home. Art IV.6.4, published in La Gaceta - No. 96, of May 20, 1993, is required for commercial and industrial activities of lesser risk.
F. DEVELOPMENTS, SUBDIVISIONS, AND CONSTRUCTIONS:
9. In the Future Residential zone, developments (urbanizaciones) or new constructions shall not be permitted. Subdivisions (fraccionamientos) or segregations of property (finca) shall be permitted, according to the requirements of this zone, indicated below.
10. In the rural zone and the future expansion residential zone, new developments (urbanizaciones) shall not be permitted. Constructions and subdivisions (fraccionamientos) shall be permitted in the rural zone, under the requirements of each of these zones indicated further on in this regulation.
11. In the rest of the zones, developments (urbanizaciones) and constructions shall be permitted according to their use and according to the requirements indicated below.
G. EXISTING OR DE FACTO SITUATION.
12. The minimum areas and frontages stipulated in this regulation for each and every zone shall be required for new lots or properties (fincas), product or result of a subdivision (fraccionamiento) of parent properties (fincas madre) or development (urbanización), and at the time of granting the corresponding permits.
13. Existing lots or properties (fincas) whose areas and frontages are below the minimum requirements of their zone, both in already developed (urbanizadas) areas and in adjacent ones, may remain as is or be grouped together, without construction permits in them.
14. Construction requirements (setbacks (retiros), coverages, construction areas, parking, or others) shall be required for future constructions or those intended to be built, and at the time of requesting construction, remodeling, or expansion permits. However, when intending to build on an existing lot whose dimensions are smaller than those indicated for the corresponding zone, and upon applying the construction requirements (which are those corresponding to the prescribed lot dimensions), it is verified that they cannot be applied, or applying them causes considerable harm to the owner, in that case and only under those circumstances, the municipality may reduce or eliminate the requirements entirely, for which a commission shall be formed with three representatives of the Municipal Council, the Mayor, and the head of the Department of Construction Permits, who once having deliberated, this commission shall present before the Municipal Council, who shall ratify (for their knowledge and approval) definitively.
15. Existing constructions that are not complying with the requirements, in any zone, may remain as is, or be modified always in the sense of conforming to the requirements.
16. Registration procedures for streets, urban easements (servidumbres) that were initiated prior to the adoption of this amendment to the Regulatory Plan, shall remain in process as long as it is demonstrated that the start date of the procedure was prior to the publication of this adoption. This is because urban easements (servidumbres) are henceforth eliminated in the zone of influence of this Regulatory Plan.
H. PARKING. The municipality issues a special regulation for the parking of automobiles and trucks:
17. Within the Urban Quadrant zone indicated on the Urban Development map, it is established that parking control on urban streets, managed by the municipality, for which the corresponding parking zones shall be marked with markings on the roadway zone, respecting 15.0 m from the edge of the curve at each corner for visibility purposes between streets. It may define Official Use zones, for those public agencies that require it in front of their facilities. It shall establish the application hours and days and the use restrictions for certain types of vehicles. It shall set a fee corresponding to the amount that must govern for parking, approved by the Municipal Council. Any update or repeal of this fee must be approved by the Municipal Council. For such purposes, a Fee Tariff Application Regulation shall be established, which shall refer to everything concerning affected zones and services for which fees will be charged, such as certifications, attestations, parking fees, concessions, licenses (patentes), commercial signs, urban services, among other activities that generate income for the municipality for services rendered to residents and system users. This must be known by the Municipal Council in accordance with the Municipal Code and be approved according to its establishment and modifications when required, kept publicly accessible for consultation and eventual claims.
18. Every publicly used building (to which public access is given), including commercial premises, must provide a vehicle parking area for the public for every 250 m² of construction, apart from the parking for use by the employees or workers of the building, as calculated and established by the building designer, and also apart from the loading and unloading zones. Fractions of 50 m² over the base of 250 m² shall be subject to an extra parking space. As for parking standards, it shall be regulated by Chapter XVIII, subparagraphs 1 through 13 of the Construction Regulation of Law No. 4240 regarding this matter, with the exception of the minimum required area which is modified by this regulatory plan.
Zoning