Who to complain to?

[KPHMPH]

So I don’t want to be “that” neighbour but I also don’t want his “car lot” bringing my house value down.

I tried 311 but they rejected it.

What I read was if you house is between 9-15 meters your driveway has to be smaller than 7M.

[ExtraSlow]

What's the bylaw about percentage of width permitted for driveways? Maybe phone 311 and ask them what the guidelines are for extending "your own" driveway?

[thinmyster]

Woah that’s quite the sidewalk. Have any more pictures? I think uni-driveways look tacky in general but this one doesn’t look all that bad. How many cars do they have?

[Thaco]

honestly its kind of a dick move to repot him and make him spend thousands of dollars to remove what he spent thousands to put in, it really cant impact you THAT much... i've never looked at a house and drove down the block and thought... ugh, i'm gonna offer that guy 10k less because he lives near someone with an enlarged driveway...

[ExtraSlow]

Might be a dick move but I would totally do it.

[KPHMPH]

It kind of runs me the wrong way he has 3 to 4 vehicles on his driveway at night...

Am I being unreasonable?


I move in May 15th.

I’ll try and get some pictures.

[Thaco]

probably just a family with teenage kids who drive and they use the garage for other purposes... if he didnt have this then i'm sure you'd be annoyed that he parks in front of your house on the street.

[revelations]

Why would this "rub you the wrong way"? Is it because they have actual space for their vehicles on their lot and you dont?

This shouldn't have any effect on your property value.

Also, in most areas its the FRONTAGE that dictates the width of the driveway.

[Maxx Mazda]

I’d be more concerned that he still has Christmas lights up over how many cars are parked in the driveway at night. I mean, if they’re all gone during the day, who cares? I think he’s got a pretty sweet setup.

[ercchry]

If cars parked outdoors bothers you that much i’d probably avoid living on a street with front drives so close together that you can’t park between houses to begin with

[ExtraSlow]

True enough. Front drives always look trashy to me. Alleys FTW!

[Kijho]

It's better than them parking on the streets.. You get those roads with cars parked in the streets of both sides and then only 1 car fit thru at a time. Awful. I'd rather this.

[adam c]

As someone who lives in a crowded community where parking is a premium and no front/attached garages, be happy

This also looks like work that would have required city permits

[never]

Move out of the city...BOOM, problem solved!

[Xtrema]

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What's the bylaw about percentage of width permitted for driveways? Maybe phone 311 and ask them what the guidelines are for extending "your own" driveway?

You can have a 7m wide driveway if your lot is 9m-15m wide. The is only a minimum length requirement but not max. That driveway looks ok, looks like a 20' garage with 3' of extra pad. They can park 3 cars on that and you can't do much about that.

What I don't get is why there is more driveway beyond the sidewalk.

[dirtsniffer]

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So in Calgary under the Land Use Bylaw Division 1 section 341 for low density residential districts (link to bylaw) which would applicable in this case, driveways can be a maximum of 6 meters( 19.685 feet) where the parcel (lot) width is less than 9 meters (29.5276 feet) or 7 meters (22.9659 feet) for a parcel that is wider than 9 meters (29.5276 feet up to 15 meters (49.2126 feet).

Simply put, if your lot is less than 30 feet in width then your driveway can be no more than 19'8" in width. If your lot is between 30 and 50 feet in width, then you can have a driveway that is up to 23 feet in width. Any lot wider than 50 feet, the bylaw appears to be silent although many lots that are wider than 50 feet are generally in older areas and I do recall some special rules for lots that were created before 1982.

Never the less, every one of those homes in the picture above would be illegal - the question is how the CoC Bylaw people would respond to complaints about such parcels. Maybe the owners of said properties applied for and got relaxations or maybe that's how the CoC would move forward if a complaint was lodged. Maybe the question is whether or not these cemented over front yards were even done with a proper building or development permit in place.

I don't get why 311 would reject it. I would resubmit.

[KPHMPH]

So I just pulled my own house plans and the house is only 8.54 M wide which means a 6M MAX driveway.

I totally think I am being reasonable with this. I guess my frustration comes when he parks his superduty on the left hand side of his driveway up onto his flower bed about 1.5 feet away from the fence. There is MORE than enough room on the front street, I’m pretty sure on my side I’ve only seen one vehicle ever parked on the street... most people park in their garage.

[realazy]

The bylaw is for parcel size and not house size. If your house is 8.54 m you parcel is at least 10.94m wide unless you’re on a zero lot line lot which doesn’t seem to be the case.

Looking at the picture, it looks to be a 20’ garage, that front door landing is probably 6’, making it a 26’ house. That driveway would be about 3’ too wide.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Maxx Mazda]

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Am I being unreasonable?

I move in May 15th.

Wait, you don’t even LIVE on the street yet? That’s even more unreasonable! He could have been there for years already for all you know, and now someone who hasn’t even moved in yet is going to take issue with how he parks his vehicles??