So how did these uni-drivewayers deal with the snowfall on the weekend? Was the snow clearing as bad as everyone thinks it was going to be? Anyone live close to a uni-driveway and can provide and update?
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Much like a sports ticker, you may feel obligated to read this
Sounds like the city is going to do nothing. A warning that you can't park your car on the newly paved portion? LOL. Is bylaw going to come day after day, week after week?
I wonder what approach they will take with people who will pave subsequent to this.
Anyone live near the street in the original article? Id really like to see what they are doing this weekend after this dump of snow. Snap a pic and post here if you are nearby.
November 24, 2014 Updated : November 24, 2014 | 10:43 pm
City of Calgary has warned 63 residents about their ‘unidriveways’ to date
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Now, Cliff de Jong, a senior special projects officer with the city, said 63 of them have been found in a number communities to date. Residents caught have been told to move their cars from the newly paved spot immediately or face a fine.
“We’re not looking at relaxing the rule and we want to rectify as much of the situation as we can without (creating) full financial ruin for these folks,” he said.
“We’re looking for compliance. Sometimes, the road to compliance takes a long time.”
The city has largely been made aware of existing unidriveways through complaints and de Jong conceded there are likely more flying under the radar.
Saddle Ridge Community Association president Judy Brown said she’s aware of more than 60 such sites in her community alone. Metro snapped a photo in October of one block in her community where four houses in a row had eliminated front-yard grass.
“It looks like a used car lot,” she said.
Brown said she’s aware of other unidriveways in Martindale and at least one down in the McKenzie area.
“I don’t think they (city bylaw officers) have found all of them,” she said. “(The McKenzie resident) paved the front-lawn and back-lawn, she just didn’t want to mow the lawn anymore — excuse me? Where’s all the water going to run off?”
Why do you not care so much?. Provide why you have no care before asking why people care so much. If you cannot provide resonible answers to why its no big deal then do not ask why people think its a big deal.
1. If I wanted to look at endlesse cement I'd stay in a condo.
2. You shovel your "LAWN" on the roadends up in front of my Driveway when the plows come around or your shoveling it on to me or the neighbor on the other side of you. We don't need the extra snow on either of our sides properties.
3. During hard rains the drainage system will be backed up as it was designed around homes that absord the excess water in the lawns now it heads to the drain . On periods of lond
4.My kid is not grown enough to know boundaries . He runs from my actual lawn to your "lawn". Can't sue you ( even if it was grass) now Imma act like an ####### because you were an ass hole . If your not " into kids" or "having kids " this won't seem like an issue but it is.
I don't think I need to go on.
One last thing is it does boil down to the money lowboski . Just having a neighbor pave his front and back yard brings me down at least $10,000 to $25,000 depending the neighborhood. That hurts the ol' pocket book. To make that money up you would have to do at least a $8000 dollar reno to get the resale value up to the price you bought it at before your neighbors killed nature in your area.
Last edited by combustiblefuel; 11-30-2014 at 02:30 AM.
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Didn't read the whole thread, but isn't there a bylaw that states 'x' amount of your backyard can't be paved? I think it had to do with aesthetics, water run off and I believe the amount of heat generated in the summer?
I think they look like garbage. I understand why some people are doing this, but boy does it look terrible.
No . I want to make it clear that their is no escalation.
I am just saying thing that do get brought up apoun selling and buying a home that get overlooked. Wanting to be in a strong supportive neighborhood is a key point to where you want to live.
This doesn't scream a strong supportive community that wants to excell .
Last edited by combustiblefuel; 11-30-2014 at 05:21 AM.
Didn't read the whole thread, but isn't there a bylaw that states 'x' amount of your backyard can't be paved? I think it had to do with aesthetics, water run off and I believe the amount of heat generated in the summer?
I think they look like garbage. I understand why some people are doing this, but boy does it look terrible.
In the thread it was discussed. In short technically there is a law. They cannot enforce it automatically, possibly a loop hole in what defines "Hard scaping".
February 8, 2015 Updated : February 8, 2015 | 11:03 pm
‘Unidriveway’ complaints nearly double, homeowners will be forced to restore lawns
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City planners say they’re taking action against more than 100 homeowners who’ve seemingly paved their little piece of front-lawn paradise and put up a parking lot.
To date, 124 complaints have been received regarding so-called “unidriveways,” nearly double the number reported as of late November, after Metro reported on the growing trend in October.
In each case, an owner has poured concrete where grass or gravel once was on their front lawn, back lawn, or both.
“I think one person does it, then another person does and then pretty soon everybody says ‘Oh yeah, I don’t want to cut my grass and I want to park my car on it,’ ” said Coun. Jim Stevenson, who noted there have been more than 60 unidriveway reports in the northeast community of Saddle Ridge alone.
Residents are now being told they could be awarded a “slight relaxation” on the width of their driveway, but will still need to replace the bulk of the pavement with grass or gravel, according to Cliff de Jong, a senior special projects officer with the city. Those who don’t comply could face fines.
A major concern identified by city planners is a lack of space for water drainage and the fact that the extended lot is not a valid parking space.
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I've noticed that triple garages have a strip of gravel or grass (like maybe a foot wide), to separate the driveways. Is this a loop hole that these residents can use?
While it doesn't look nice I'm of the opinion that the most offensive thing in those pictures is the 4 feet between the houses not the lack of a front lawn. That irritates me and is actually a big reason I don't live somewhere like Calgary.
BUt I understand the arguments against it and if it is against the bylaw well then I guess that's the deciding factor.
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Parking is at a premium in many parts of the city so some northeast residents have taken matters into their own hands and expanded their driveways across their entire yards.
An aerial survey of the communities of Saddleridge and Martindale found almost 250 of the ‘unidriveways’, which did not come as a surprise to those living nearby.
“It is a big problem because, it’s spreading. I know it’s not just my ward now but through my ward, I’ve got a number of areas where we’re really concerned about it and the fact that people are paving or cementing over city property, that they have no right to do that, we take that pretty seriously. We have a right-of-way across their lawn, and that right-of-way has to be maintained as a surface that the water can go through and drain into and so on, so we’re taking action on it and there’s a cross-unit task force set up here within the city, because it affects a lot of different departments. It affects water, it affects roads, it affects parking, so some of the homeowners have been served notice that they have to remove them or we’ll go in and remove them and more of them will be served in the future,” said Stevenson.
