Better to move vs build pricey garage?

[timun]

Originally Posted by kevman

I don't think there are rules against those things as long as lot coverage is respected.

There is a requirement for accessory buildings to be 1m from the main dwelling but I don't recall anything if the buildings are attached. There is a new one on 2nd ave that has an attached rear garage with a narrow walkway from the house.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/63...4d-114.0773248

Edit - From the land use bylaw:

So if you keep the garage under 75 square meters, respect the side and rear setbacks and keep it under 4.6m there is no issue being attached to the main residential building.

Okay, we've got to back up and look at this from a greater overall perspective, because I didn't say rear attached garages aren't allowed at all... You have to parse the Land Use Bylaw within the context of the land use designation that a parcel has, and the context of the neighbourhood. When I wrote "there are (essentially) no rear-access attached garages in Calgary" I meant in the context of a neighbourhood like Twitchy15's and mine and the vast majority of single-family homes in Calgary.

Here's a breakdown of a cascading set of rules that makes this so:

Section 347(1)(b) says:

A Contextual Single Detached Dwelling [...] must not have vehicular access from the lane to an attached private garage

"Lane" meaning "back alley". This applies to all Low-Density Residential Districts; R-C1, R-C1L, R-C1N, R-C2, R-CG, etc. Most homes in Calgary are zoned in one of these land uses. That home in Sunnyside you picked out that has vehicular access from a lane to an attached garage is not in a low-density district—it's built on a parcel zoned M-CGd72: "Multi-Residential Contextual Grade-oriented with a density no more than 72 dwelling units per hectare". (Say that quickly five times over...) In a nutshell it's zoned for low-rise apartment buildings. That's why access to an attached garage from the alley is allowed in that case; Section 347 of the LUB doesn't apply.

However, stick with me with the understanding most single-family homes are zoned R-C1. Section 347(1)(b) applies and says "no vehicular access from an alley to an attached garage". That does not mean you can't have access to a garage from an alley: you can if it's detached. That's why most single-family parcels with alleys will have detached garages at the back.

It also doesn't mean you can't have an attached garage in the rear of the property (as you quite rightly pointed out from Section 338 of the LUB), it just means you can't access it from the alley. You could, hypothetically, have a driveway that allows access from the street out front. Nothing wrong with that, and some older homes in older areas (e.g. Lower Mount Royal, Bowness) have such a thing. But, if your neighbourhood does not have driveways already, generally you can't add one. Section 341(6) of the LUB says:

In the Developed Area a driveway accessing a street must not be constructed, altered or replaced except where:

(a) it is located on a laneless parcel;
(b) it is located on a laned parcel and 50.0 per cent or more parcels on the same block face have an existing driveway accessing a street ; or
(c) there is a legally existing driveway that it is not being relocated or widened.

The gist of this is if you have a back alley and less than half the houses on your block have a driveway, you can't build a driveway. The "Developed Area" meaning the area defined in this map:

Spoiler!

In effect, a rear attached garage becomes a moot option for the vast, vast majority of existing houses in Calgary.




All of that said, is it absolutely illegal to build an attached garage at the back of a house in a low-density residential district with access to it from the alley? No. You can apply for a relaxation of the LUB requirements. I presume the properties in Highwood that tvp2005 and Fuzz linked to did so. The one, 188 Hartford Road, is on a funky pie-shaped lot; maybe that was one of the reasons the City allowed them the relaxation. (Although that's a really weird-looking house all-in-all...). The other, 16 Hartford Road, is on a pretty steep slope, and that's likely why they allowed the attached garage there; structurally it may not have made any sense to build a detached garage there. Notice, however, that almost all the other properties in the area have detached garages in the back.

[Fuzz]

^
Just for fun I found another one for you:

https://goo.gl/maps/R2mdZdtNrrVS1uMk7

This has a front and rear drive, and looknig at streetview, was done sometime after 2009 and before 2016, so it isn't very old:

https://goo.gl/maps/vPVB7gSx13E3o8Jc8

[Fuzz]

https://goo.gl/maps/c2MihaFJRqPxmgbB6

Oh, and this is a neat one, that deck is actually hiding an undergone passage to the garage, it's basically a big concrete storage room, but I remember seeing it when it was for sale. So technically attached.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by timun

All of that said, is it absolutely illegal to build an attached garage at the back of a house in a low-density residential district with access to it from the alley? No. You can apply for a relaxation of the LUB requirements. I presume the properties in Highwood that tvp2005 and Fuzz linked to did so. The one, 188 Hartford Road, is on a funky pie-shaped lot; maybe that was one of the reasons the City allowed them the relaxation. (Although that's a really weird-looking house all-in-all...). The other, 16 Hartford Road, is on a pretty steep slope, and that's likely why they allowed the attached garage there; structurally it may not have made any sense to build a detached garage there. Notice, however, that almost all the other properties in the area have detached garages in the back.

I think the intent of the no access to an attached garage from alley rule is to stop people from paving over their backyard to access a garage that's integral to the house on the front of the parcel. If you wanted to build a garage immediately next to the alley with some type of indoor connection to your house I think most file managers would be willing to grant that relaxation at development permit.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://goo.gl/maps/c2MihaFJRqPxmgbB6

Oh, and this is a neat one, that deck is actually hiding an undergone passage to the garage, it's basically a big concrete storage room, but I remember seeing it when it was for sale. So technically attached.

Ah, see now when it comes to what is and is not considered "attached", the LUB basically ignores below-grade passages. A detached garage is an "accessory residential building" that "... is not attached to a main residential building except where the attachment is entirely below grade or directly below a patio".

I've seen a similar, newer infill house in Altadore with a basement corridor under the back yard that connected to a basement under the garage. Totally legal to do, nothing in the LUB saying otherwise.

[timun]

Originally Posted by Zarley

I think the intent of the no access to an attached garage from alley rule is to stop people from paving over their backyard to access a garage that's integral to the house on the front of the parcel. If you wanted to build a garage immediately next to the alley with some type of indoor connection to your house I think most file managers would be willing to grant that relaxation at development permit.

I'm honestly not sure what the intent of the rule is, I just know it exists and ran into it in my own pursuit of a garage. That seems like a plausible explanation; it does get lost on people that you need some permeable surface on your land to allow rainwater to percolate through, otherwise the City has to upsize storm sewers all over the place.

In my case I'd be looking at a breezeway about 30-35' long, which is kind of absurd.

[bossy22]

There is a home...duplex in Marda Loop where he built attached garages but the driveway is in the alley. We looked at one of them but it was out of our price range.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/m.../data=!3m1!1e3

[edslunch]

Can you build a carriage house…garage plus office/guest room/storage? Obviously increases the budget but you might get a lot more use out of it. Plus would increase the value of your lot even if someone wants to tear down the main house.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by bossy22

There is a home...duplex in Marda Loop where he built attached garages but the driveway is in the alley. We looked at one of them but it was out of our price range.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/m.../data=!3m1!1e3

Yuck. Too much pavement - it would suck if everybody did that.

There are probably some practical reasons against this, but that would be better with a shared driveway down the middle that branches wider as it approaches the garages. It would free up a lot of room on each side for something resembling a yard. And it would let you share shovelling duties a bit with your neighbour.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

We were in the same spot as you, and I built mine. We went 10 years without, until the time was right. If you like the house and neighbourhood, I wouldn't worry as much about re-claiming the value from the cost, do what works for you. Over a long enough time I don't think it will matter. If you can do some stuff yourself you can save a lot of money.

And, like Fuzz, your newborn will be 15 and able to help with the finishing touches.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by timun

Okay, we've got to back up and look at this from a greater overall perspective, because I didn't say rear attached garages aren't allowed at all... You have to parse the Land Use Bylaw within the context of the land use designation that a parcel has, and the context of the neighbourhood. When I wrote "there are (essentially) no rear-access attached garages in Calgary" I meant in the context of a neighbourhood like Twitchy15's and mine and the vast majority of single-family homes in Calgary.

Here's a breakdown of a cascading set of rules that makes this so:

Section 347(1)(b) says:

A Contextual Single Detached Dwelling [...] must not have vehicular access from the lane to an attached private garage

"Lane" meaning "back alley". This applies to all Low-Density Residential Districts; R-C1, R-C1L, R-C1N, R-C2, R-CG, etc. Most homes in Calgary are zoned in one of these land uses. That home in Sunnyside you picked out that has vehicular access from a lane to an attached garage is not in a low-density district—it's built on a parcel zoned M-CGd72: "Multi-Residential Contextual Grade-oriented with a density no more than 72 dwelling units per hectare". (Say that quickly five times over...) In a nutshell it's zoned for low-rise apartment buildings. That's why access to an attached garage from the alley is allowed in that case; Section 347 of the LUB doesn't apply.

However, stick with me with the understanding most single-family homes are zoned R-C1. Section 347(1)(b) applies and says "no vehicular access from an alley to an attached garage". That does not mean you can't have access to a garage from an alley: you can if it's detached. That's why most single-family parcels with alleys will have detached garages at the back.

It also doesn't mean you can't have an attached garage in the rear of the property (as you quite rightly pointed out from Section 338 of the LUB), it just means you can't access it from the alley. You could, hypothetically, have a driveway that allows access from the street out front. Nothing wrong with that, and some older homes in older areas (e.g. Lower Mount Royal, Bowness) have such a thing. But, if your neighbourhood does not have driveways already, generally you can't add one. Section 341(6) of the LUB says:

In the Developed Area a driveway accessing a street must not be constructed, altered or replaced except where:

(a) it is located on a laneless parcel;
(b) it is located on a laned parcel and 50.0 per cent or more parcels on the same block face have an existing driveway accessing a street ; or
(c) there is a legally existing driveway that it is not being relocated or widened.

The gist of this is if you have a back alley and less than half the houses on your block have a driveway, you can't build a driveway. The "Developed Area" meaning the area defined in this map:

Spoiler!

In effect, a rear attached garage becomes a moot option for the vast, vast majority of existing houses in Calgary.




All of that said, is it absolutely illegal to build an attached garage at the back of a house in a low-density residential district with access to it from the alley? No. You can apply for a relaxation of the LUB requirements. I presume the properties in Highwood that tvp2005 and Fuzz linked to did so. The one, 188 Hartford Road, is on a funky pie-shaped lot; maybe that was one of the reasons the City allowed them the relaxation. (Although that's a really weird-looking house all-in-all...). The other, 16 Hartford Road, is on a pretty steep slope, and that's likely why they allowed the attached garage there; structurally it may not have made any sense to build a detached garage there. Notice, however, that almost all the other properties in the area have detached garages in the back.

A bylaw expert I am not. Living in Sunnyside, in a single detached home (discretionary use), I've never paid too much attention to the contextual requirements - I stand corrected.

That said, walking through Rosedale (R-C1), it doesn't seem like a very difficult relaxation to get.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://goo.gl/maps/c2MihaFJRqPxmgbB6

Oh, and this is a neat one, that deck is actually hiding an undergone passage to the garage, it's basically a big concrete storage room, but I remember seeing it when it was for sale. So technically attached.

Fuzz I saw that one for sale and thought that was so cool the underground basement passage to the garage haha.

[Twitchy15]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Can you build a carriage house…garage plus office/guest room/storage? Obviously increases the budget but you might get a lot more use out of it. Plus would increase the value of your lot even if someone wants to tear down the main house.

I remember one homebuilder in Carrington Daytona was charging $100,000 more for carriage house. One company in Calgary on the website says single garage with one bedroom carriage house starting at 175,000$… triple 275,000$…

My wife doesn’t want any renters lol so probably no point in even pricing it out.

[topfiverecords]

One of the major costs that can really get up there for a backyard garage suite is sewer/water/gas if your lot orientation makes it difficult or lengthy.

[Barnes]

In Mahogany, there are some rear attached, zero lot line homes which are really cool. You essentially get a side yard with a courtyard between the garage and house. There were options for gazebos, built in outdoor fireplaces, etc. Some of the models had bonus rooms over the garage.

Sorry about the Bing maps. Google imagery sucks for the area.

https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=74f2e...=2&form=S00027