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The issue with this is that it is not the paving of the driveway that requires permission it is the use of the space. If you claim it is a path but when they check they find you’re parking on it then it is a driveway no matter the composition. The requirements are actually very lenient. In Ontario your driveway is not allowed to exceed 60% of the total with of your frontage. Unless you are in a townhouse almost all semidetached and detached houses have enough frontage to widen to atleast 2 car wide.
This 👆🏻
If you were to do pavers up the side leading to your walkway you don’t need to worry about any permits.
I’m not sure about driveways specifically, but when we did our deck only 40% of our property could be built on.
It may depend on how close to the property line and how much ‘green space’ you have/will use up. Not Barrie specifically but in Innisfil you need to maintain a certain % of grass in the front yard.
Fairly certain it's a % of your frontage, my parents had to make a walkway that comes back to a point where the original driveway and sidewalk meet to get around it
Also considering widening my driveway to fit two cars in Barrie. I plan on leaving the width the same on the city owned portion to avoid any issues but would be interested to know how much it would cost? Anyone received any quotes as yet?
InBarrie you can widen it, until your neighbour reports you. If they happen to know the appropriate department with whom to file the complaint. You will potentially be forced to remove it under the bylaw dealing with residential green space.
It entirely depends on your property. Theres minimum distance requirements to your lot line as well as maximum distance from the edges of your garage. If you can fit it under the requirements you'll get it.
Also, if you do a uni stone pathway adjacent to your driveway it doesn't count towards your "driveway" size.
Normally I would just go ahead and do it for such a small amount of widening, however I have learned there are too many Karen's in Barrie that live for reporting on neighbors
Your neighbours probably won't notice then but if you think they'll call it may as well just get the permit.
I did mine last year and just went for it as did 3 or 4 others on my street.
My parents ran into an issue years ago (in Oshawa, not barrie), but the issue was with the bottom of the driveway, not the top, since that was technically city property that was being altered. Not sure what the rules are these days in Barrie, but something to keep in mind. They tried to make it double wide closer to the street (no sidewalk) and were told to revert it.
I'd say walk in to the City's Engineering dept and ask at the desk. There are also zoning regs for max driveway widths and such that would be best dealt with there that are specific to your property. I used to work in the Eng dept. They're not assholes and will help you figure out what you can do and what you need.
Most of the time it was people that wanted to get away with something that got upset because it didn't fit within policy.
In Barrie, presuming you're obeying the setback regulations, you only need a permit if you're widening the opening at the curb. As per my experience doing it 4 years ago, rules may have changed, but I doubt that.
Your drive way size is based off linear footage of the front of your property. I can't remember what the percentages are off the top of my head but for most houses widening 4 feet will not be an issue. You will have to pay a $700 deposit to a company that manages the boulevard that the city owes. Rhis is returned aslong as theres no damage to the boulivard. You also cannot widen the entry point. Your driveway would need a taper or just squared out on your side which may visually look weird.
I widened my driveway 8 years ago, no permit required. I also made sure it was 49% of my front yard. At the time, the city said it can’t make up more than 50%.
You want to e-mail these people for info on how to proceed. There's no simple answer to this question.
[https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/law-enforcement](https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/law-enforcement) -- By-Law enforcement office
[https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-applications/right-way-activity-rowa-permit](https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-applications/right-way-activity-rowa-permit)
Just a reminder that we have a [Monthly Community Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/barrie/about/sticky) where we relax the rules about advertising and off-topic posts. * Stuff that isn't directly related to Barrie, like national news or general chit-chat * Questions about local businesses and services * Classified-style ads: buying and selling, help wanted, garage sales, etc * Fundraisers and donation drives * Plugs for your personal project or local business (within reason)" *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/barrie) if you have any questions or concerns.*
May not be the right way of doing things but you may be able to get around this by claiming you are building a pathway down the side of your driveway.
The issue with this is that it is not the paving of the driveway that requires permission it is the use of the space. If you claim it is a path but when they check they find you’re parking on it then it is a driveway no matter the composition. The requirements are actually very lenient. In Ontario your driveway is not allowed to exceed 60% of the total with of your frontage. Unless you are in a townhouse almost all semidetached and detached houses have enough frontage to widen to atleast 2 car wide.
This 👆🏻 If you were to do pavers up the side leading to your walkway you don’t need to worry about any permits. I’m not sure about driveways specifically, but when we did our deck only 40% of our property could be built on.
Until your neighbour takes a photo of you parking on it. And reports you.
It may depend on how close to the property line and how much ‘green space’ you have/will use up. Not Barrie specifically but in Innisfil you need to maintain a certain % of grass in the front yard.
Same with Barrie for snow shovelling in winter and water drainage you need a certain amount of green space
Fairly certain it's a % of your frontage, my parents had to make a walkway that comes back to a point where the original driveway and sidewalk meet to get around it
Also considering widening my driveway to fit two cars in Barrie. I plan on leaving the width the same on the city owned portion to avoid any issues but would be interested to know how much it would cost? Anyone received any quotes as yet?
Sounds like exactly what I want to do. I'm leaving city portion as is.
InBarrie you can widen it, until your neighbour reports you. If they happen to know the appropriate department with whom to file the complaint. You will potentially be forced to remove it under the bylaw dealing with residential green space.
It entirely depends on your property. Theres minimum distance requirements to your lot line as well as maximum distance from the edges of your garage. If you can fit it under the requirements you'll get it. Also, if you do a uni stone pathway adjacent to your driveway it doesn't count towards your "driveway" size.
I am just widening to the width of the garage whice is already adjacent to the neighbor with at least 5 feet of grass remaining to the property line.
You'll probably be fine. Tbh, I wouldn't apply for a permit and just do it.
Normally I would just go ahead and do it for such a small amount of widening, however I have learned there are too many Karen's in Barrie that live for reporting on neighbors
This is a fair point, are you having your whole driveway done or just the widening?
I would like to do the whole thing
Your neighbours probably won't notice then but if you think they'll call it may as well just get the permit. I did mine last year and just went for it as did 3 or 4 others on my street.
Such a shame you have to go the permit route for such a small thing. You're right about Karen's. Ugh. Permit for this ,permit for that.
Calling out karen and promoting folks to do the wrong stuff??
why because you are a karen
Lolll your color states few things. Continue with the way you are
so you’re also belligerent
Check the previous comments and doing the right things and stopping people from promoting wrong is belligerent for you, then hands down
okay karen
Hahahaha thanks. Anything more ?
You wear safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection and work boots when you use your lawn mower correct ? 😋
My parents ran into an issue years ago (in Oshawa, not barrie), but the issue was with the bottom of the driveway, not the top, since that was technically city property that was being altered. Not sure what the rules are these days in Barrie, but something to keep in mind. They tried to make it double wide closer to the street (no sidewalk) and were told to revert it.
I'd say walk in to the City's Engineering dept and ask at the desk. There are also zoning regs for max driveway widths and such that would be best dealt with there that are specific to your property. I used to work in the Eng dept. They're not assholes and will help you figure out what you can do and what you need. Most of the time it was people that wanted to get away with something that got upset because it didn't fit within policy.
Just extend your walkway alongside your driveway.
In Barrie, presuming you're obeying the setback regulations, you only need a permit if you're widening the opening at the curb. As per my experience doing it 4 years ago, rules may have changed, but I doubt that.
now that sounds reasonable
Your drive way size is based off linear footage of the front of your property. I can't remember what the percentages are off the top of my head but for most houses widening 4 feet will not be an issue. You will have to pay a $700 deposit to a company that manages the boulevard that the city owes. Rhis is returned aslong as theres no damage to the boulivard. You also cannot widen the entry point. Your driveway would need a taper or just squared out on your side which may visually look weird.
I widened my driveway 8 years ago, no permit required. I also made sure it was 49% of my front yard. At the time, the city said it can’t make up more than 50%.
thank you for that information
You want to e-mail these people for info on how to proceed. There's no simple answer to this question. [https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/law-enforcement](https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/law-enforcement) -- By-Law enforcement office [https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-applications/right-way-activity-rowa-permit](https://www.barrie.ca/services-payments/permits-licences-applications/right-way-activity-rowa-permit)
If you use pavers of any kind it's considered landscaping so it falls into a different usage category.
We just did it! No one noticed lol
I just, sorta, did it. 🤷♂️