ADU Pass
San Antonio
ADU Pass helps homeowners in San Antonio, Aguadilla Municipio, Puerto Rico navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: with-restrictions
San Antonio second-dwelling work follows the standard Aguadilla two-tier (municipal + OGPe) routing under RC-2023. Inland location means no Zona Maritimo Terrestre consultation - a meaningful timeline saver versus Crash Boat or Borinquen parcels.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,500 | $60,000 | $61,500 |
| 500 | 500 | $2,250 | $150,000 | $152,250 |
| midpoint | 500 | $2,250 | $150,000 | $152,250 |
| maximum | 800 | $3,000 | $240,000 | $243,000 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-04)
Permitting process
- Confirm Barrio San Antonio parcel district under RC-2023 (~3d)
Pull parcel sheet from Junta de Planificacion mapping. San Antonio is mostly R-1 / R-2; PR-2 frontage commercial CG/CL. Confirm any Aguadilla POT overlay - inland barrios generally have fewer overlays than coastal. - Engage CIAPR-licensed architect or engineer (~18d)
Reglamento de Construccion requires CIAPR-licensed (Colegio de Ingenieros y Agrimensores) seal. San Antonio designers typically work with the broader Aguadilla / Mayaguez west-coast firm cluster. - Determine Jerarquia (I-V) project category (~3d)
Inland barrio parcels usually stay in Jerarquia I-II (no coastal-zone escalation). Septic-served rural parcels may trigger DRNA OSDS review which still keeps them within Jerarquia II-III. - Submit Permiso Unico via Single Business Portal (SBP) (~1d)
Filed at https://sbp.ogpe.pr.gov/. Aguadilla Oficina de Permisos receives Jerarquia I-III; OGPe regional hub at Centro Gubernamental Pedro J. Rivera Garcia handles higher-tier escalations. - PRASA water/sewer endorsement (or DRNA OSDS for septic) (~14d)
PRASA endorsement for parcels on the Aguadilla regional sanitary network; rural San Antonio parcels on private septic require DRNA Reglamento OSDS percolation review and tank sizing. - LUMA Energy interconnection request (~45d)
Standard Aguadilla 115kV substation feeds San Antonio via local LUMA distribution; new service drop typical 30-60 days. - Construction inspections
Aguadilla Oficina de Permisos inspectors plus engineer-of-record for foundation, structural, MEP rough-in, and final. - Permiso de Uso (Certificate of Use) issuance (~14d)
Final inspection triggers Permiso de Uso through OGPe; required before utility energization and any rental.
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes (Codigo Civil de Puerto Rico (Ley 55-2020) landlord-tenant articles) Long-term rental permitted; San Antonio is a steady local-tenant submarket.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions (Companias de Turismo de Puerto Rico STR Registry; Aguadilla Municipal patente) STR demand in Barrio San Antonio is materially lower than coastal Aguadilla because the barrio is inland - Crash Boat surf demand does not extend here. Long-term tenant demand (workers commuting to BQN airport area) typically outperforms STR pro-forma.
- STR registration required
- Patente municipal required
- Inland San Antonio sees lower STR demand than coastal Aguadilla barrios
- Office rental: with-restrictions PR-2 frontage parcels in commercial CG/CL districts allow office use; pure R-1/R-2 inland parcels require variance.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with patente municipal.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal art/workshop use is a permitted accessory residential use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions San Antonio borders rural Caimital and Aguacate barrios; some rural parcels permit agricultural use under DRNA rules.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy second dwellings (la casita) are the dominant San Antonio use case; many parcels host multigenerational arrangements.
Incentives
- R3 - Programa de Reparacion, Reconstruccion o Reubicacion (CDBG-DR) — Up to $150,000 reconstruction (when funded) (Owner-occupants of single-family homes damaged by Hurricanes Irma/Maria (2017))
Contacts
Staff: OGPe Regional Hub - Aguadilla West Coast (Centro Gubernamental Pedro J. Rivera Garcia 9th Floor) (OGPe central review for Jerarquia IV-V), OGPe Customer Service (Single Business Portal support (servicioalclientepermisos@ddec.pr.gov))
Utilities
- Water: PRASA Aguadilla West Region (urban San Antonio) or private well (rural pockets near Caimital boundary) · 30d connect · $525
- Sewer: PRASA Aguadilla Regional sanitary network (urbanized portion) or private septic under DRNA Reglamento OSDS (rural portion) · 30d connect · $4,500
- Electric: LUMA Energy (T&D since 2021-06-01); served from Aguadilla 115kV substation distribution · 45d connect · $825
- Gas: Propane only (LP cylinder/tank); no piped natural-gas distribution · 7d connect · $575
Property values & taxes
Market rent by ADU size
| Sq ft | Rent |
|---|---|
| 300 | $800/mo |
| 500 | $1,100/mo |
| 700 | $1,350/mo |
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 13mo · worst 22mo
Inland barrio - no coastal logistics premium. CMU/concrete construction with hurricane and seismic detailing. Aguadilla GC pool serves the barrio; competition with BQN/Borinquen redevelopment work.
Modular pathway No PR-specific factory-built housing program · inspectors are rare with modular
San Juan or Mayaguez ports; truck transport on PR-2 to Aguadilla then secondary roads to Barrio San Antonio.
Financing
State ADU loans:
- R3 - Home Repair, Reconstruction, or Relocation Program (CDBG-DR) (Puerto Rico Department of Housing) up to $150,000
- Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda (AFV) (AFV Puerto Rico)
Insurance impact
Insurance delta below coastal Aguadilla because no storm-surge AE/VE premium. JUA placement still common because admitted carriers selective on hurricane/seismic exposure.
HOA prevalence & preemption
San Antonio is mostly fee-simple lots; condominium concentration low compared to coastal Borinquen. HOA prevalence low.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- wind-zone — ASCE 7-22 wind exposure D, design wind 200+ mph (territory-wide) - applies to San Antonio same as coastal Aguadilla · +14d · +18% cost
Inland barrio does not escape hurricane wind design; entire NW coastal Puerto Rico at 200+ mph design speed. (map) - seismic-zone — Northern PR seismic zone; Seismic Design Category D2 per ASCE 7 · +7d · +8% cost
Same D2 seismic detailing as coastal. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Reglamento de Construccion 2018 - Wind amendment (ASCE 7-22 wind exposure D) — PR-specific wind-design amendment requiring ASCE 7-22 exposure D territory-wide; design wind 200+ mph in coastal zones.
- Reglamento de Construccion 2018 - Seismic amendment (post-2019/2020 earthquake update) — Seismic-detailing update following southwest PR 2019-2020 earthquake sequence; SDC D2 territory-wide.
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Aguadilla Municipal Ordenanzas (consolidated under Ley 107-2020) plus Reglamento Conjunto 2023, adopted 2023-06-16, last amended 2023-06-16
- 2009-12-01 — Ley 161-2009 - Ley para la Reforma del Proceso de Permisos de Puerto Rico (state-law)
Created OGPe and the integrated Permiso Unico framework with Jerarquia I-V routing; San Antonio second-dwelling work files through Aguadilla Oficina de Permisos for low-tier projects.
Effect: Centralized review of complex projects (Jerarquia IV-V) at OGPe regional hub Centro Gubernamental Pedro J. Rivera Garcia in Aguadilla pueblo; San Antonio residents access the same hub for higher-tier work. - 2020-08-14 — Ley 107-2020 - Codigo Municipal de Puerto Rico (state-law)
Consolidated the municipal-government framework for all 78 Puerto Rico municipios.
Effect: Aguadilla retains autonomous-municipality status under prior Ley 81-1991. Barrio San Antonio is a barrio under Aguadilla, not a separate jurisdiction; no separate POT. - 2023-06-16 — Reglamento Conjunto 2023 (RC-2023) effective date (state-law)
Reglamento Conjunto consolidating 2020 and 2019 versions. R-1/R-2/R-3 residential district rules apply to Barrio San Antonio parcels.
Effect: San Antonio inland parcels evaluated against R-1 lower-density suburban rules; PR-2 frontage parcels under commercial CG / CL districts.
Aguadilla Municipio — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Puerto Rico municipios are the territorial equivalent of US counties; this municipio applies the territory-wide ADU framework with local design overlays where applicable.
Puerto Rico state — ADU law and programs
State HOA preemption
Puerto Rico's condominium regime is more sophisticated than most US territories — Law 129-2020 modernized the framework, mandated separate operating and reserve accounts, and added a short-term-rental floor — but it does not preempt CC&R restrictions on accessory dwellings. Conventional planned-unit-development HOAs outside the condominium framework are governed by general civil-code contract principles. Practical impact: in Puerto Rico's many condominium and gated-community contexts, ADU rights depend on the master deed.
State financing programs
Puerto Rico's primary public housing financing vehicle is the Puerto Rico Department of Housing (Departamento de la Vivienda, PRDOH), which administers HUD CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT recovery funds tied to Hurricanes Irma and María (2017) and the 2019–2020 earthquake sequence. The flagship homeowner-side program is R3 — the Home Repair, Reconstruction, or Relocation Program — funded with $2.2B+ of the $10B in CDBG-DR funds HUD has allocated to Puerto Rico for hurricane recovery. R3 funds repair, reconstruction, or relocation for single-family homes damaged by qualifying disasters; ADU-equivalent accessory structures could be built as part of a qualifying reconstruction but the program is not ADU-targeted. The Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority (Autoridad para el Financiamiento de la Vivienda, AFV) issues mortgage-revenue-bond first-mortgage financing for first-time homebuyers. Outside the disaster-recovery channels, there is no commonwealth-wide ADU-specific consumer loan or grant.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Code
- 00690
Post Office
- 1068 Ave General Ramey, 00690