Widening driveway options

[Jackhole]

I'm thinking about widening my driveway to accommodate two vehicles side by side. I'm wondering how much it cost to do pavers (widen by about 4 ft) vs other options such as stamped concrete and is it worth it to attempt DIY. I have a Tartan White Cedar semi-detached in Findlay Creek. Any advise would be appreciated.

[mc_ottawa]

Originally Posted by Jackhole

I'm thinking about widening my driveway to accommodate two vehicles side by side. I'm wondering how much it cost to do pavers (widen by about 4 ft) vs other options such as stamped concrete and is it worth it to attempt DIY. I have a Tartan White Cedar semi-detached in Findlay Creek. Any advise would be appreciated.

You may want to call the city and check with their by-laws with regards to this before you plan to do any work with regards to your driveway.

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/bylaw...veways_en.html

From what I understand from the by-law description, a 'driveway' cannot be more than 50% of the frontage of your home. If I recall correctly, Tartan semi-detached homes have a frontage of 25 feet. If that's the case, the maximum width of your driveway could be 12.5 feet.

For argument's sake, let's say your driveway is currently 10 feet wide, adding an additional 4 feet would put the driveway over the 50% threshold.

I could be wrong, but you want to call the city and check. A few neighbours had issues with this a few years back...

[barrhaven]

if you call the city and find out this is the case please let us know... im interested to see if this is the bylaw

[good2know]

an interlock 'sidewalk' beside your driveway is fine

this must not be enforced - double driveways on 35 ft lots, the mattamy houses with the back deck where driveway is same width as house are examples

[CapitalBoo]

Originally Posted by barrhaven

... im interested to see if this is the bylaw

Not sure what the confusion is, it is the By-Law, end of story. If you enlarge your driveway beyond the 50% and someone makes a complaint your going to have to put it back.

CB

[StrayCat]

Originally Posted by good2know

an interlock 'sidewalk' beside your driveway is fine

this must not be enforced - double driveways on 35 ft lots, the mattamy houses with the back deck where driveway is same width as house are examples

Good to know...thanks! We've been wondering about this...

[CapitalBoo]

Originally Posted by good2know

an interlock 'sidewalk' beside your driveway is fine

Unless you park on it regularly and someones complains. I think your better off calling the city and asking. The By-Law may include "walkways", who knows. I think you'll find that the By-Law was enacted to ensure that the home frontage consisted of something people want to look at, trees, flowers, grass rather then asphalt, although some could argue that a nice interlock would be appealing.

CB

[mc_ottawa]

Interlock sidewalks are fine.

Here's an example - http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/healt...lution_en.html

The by-law rarely gets enforced until someone decides to call by-law.

I think most people who buy a row townhome or semi-detached home are aware of the parking constraints that are associated with a smaller lot. That said, a minority of people will plead ignorance to not knowing they only have 2 or 3 spots (total) to park and figure they own the street space in front of their home as well.

If it really becomes an eyesore (I've seen some older communities where a homeowner has chosen to pave their entire front lawn) your neighbours can likely call by-law on it.

good2know, interesting point about the Mattamy Widelots. Not sure how Mattamy got around. Potentially because the front of the house has no driveway at all? (You're thinking of the homes with garages in the back with decks above them, right?

[good2know]

Originally Posted by CapitalBoo

I think your better off calling the city and asking.

I guess I would call first to be sure also before spending the money.

Many towns as built exceed 50%, and these widened dw are everywhere.

I think there are still a couple of interesting bylaws out there - one is that you can't have more cars than what fits in the garage? That you can't park on the street for more than 4 hours?

[mc_ottawa]

Originally Posted by good2know

I guess I would call first to be sure also before spending the money.

Many towns as built exceed 50%, and these widened dw are everywhere.

I think there are still a couple of interesting bylaws out there - one is that you can't have more cars than what fits in the garage? That you can't park on the street for more than 4 hours?

Interesting, and rarely followed, but they still exist.

I never used to pay much attention to them at all, until I had the...honour... of living beside a gentleman who's sole duty in the later years of his life was to ensure that everyone in his immediate vacinity adhered to any by-laws that would potentially effect his 'quality of life' so to speak.

Parking on the street for more than 3 hours, having someone stopped in a no-parking zone, someone 'extending' their driveway as discussed in this thread, etc. were all closely scrutinzed by this fellow. I think that street easily set the record for most by-law tickets in one week. (something like 14 of the 35 homes on that street got tickets). Hell, even the builder who was still building across the street got a few tickets.

Just goes to show, you can never be too sure...