May 13, 1998
To:Toronto Community Council
From:Lesley Watson, Director, By-law Administration and Enforcement, City Works Services
Subject:Request for an Exemption from Municipal Code Chapter 400, to Permit Front Yard Parking at 223 Waverley Road
(East Toronto)
Purpose:
To report on a request for an exemption from Municipal Code Chapter 400, Traffic and Parking, to permit front yard
parking. As this is a request for an exemption from the by-law, it is scheduled as a public hearing.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
Not applicable.
Recommendation:
It is recommended that City Council approve either:
(1)the application for front yard parking at 223 Waverley Road, although it no longer meets the criteria of Chapter 400 of
the City of Toronto Municipal Code, for one space with a ramp access 2.6 m wide;
OR
(2)the application for front yard parking at 223 Waverley Road, although it no longer meets the criteria of Chapter 400 of
the City of Toronto Municipal Code, for two spaces with a ramp access 3.0 m wide.
Background:
Councillor Jakobek has asked me to report on a request for front yard parking which had been previously approved in
December 1993 but which was not installed. The owner Ms. Susan Driver is now ready to proceed with the front yard
parking proposal, and has asked to reopen her application. Since the original approval, permit parking has been switched
over to the odd side of the street, and the location no longer qualifies under the current criteria of Municipal Code Chapter
400. As there are extenuating circumstances, I am recommending that Ms. Driver be given Council=s permission to
proceed.
Comments:
The current owner was originally approved for front yard parking for two vehicles in December 1993. The property met all
the criteria of the former Front Yard Parking By-law No. 65-81. The file was kept open until April 30, 1994, in order for
the applicant to obtain the necessary permit from the department. Due to the site conditions, the installation of the proposed
front yard parking space at the location requires an extensive excavation of approximately 4.0 m, the installation of major
retaining walls, and the relocation of the Consumers Gas service to the home, all at a significant cost to the owner.
At the time of the application, permit parking was in effect on the even side of this portion of Waverley Road. However, on
April 22, 1994, eight days before Ms. Driver=s application would lapse if she had not obtained her construction permit,
former Toronto City Council passed a by-law switching the permit parking from the even side of the street to the odd side
of the street. At the time, the applicant was not advised of the passing of this by-law, and that should the application lapse,
any new application would be disqualified under the new rules.
Had Ms. Driver known this she would have had the option of asking for an extended time to get her permit or she may have
taken steps to initiate the project.
In August of 1994, the applicant called regarding the status of the file and was advised that the location no longer qualified
for front yard parking since the file had been closed, and permit parking was now in effect on the same side of the street.
Inspection confirmed that the installation of the 3.0 m ramp would result in the loss of an on-street permit parking space.
July 5, 1996, Chapter 400 of the Municipal Code was amended by By-law No. 1996-0363. The current front yard parking
criteria of City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 400:
(a)prohibits front yard parking where permit parking is authorized on the street or the property is within an area authorized
for permit parking; and
(b)sets a maximum of one front yard parking space per property.
Permit parking is authorized on the odd side of Waverley Road, within permit parking area 9C, and the installation of a 3.0
m ramp, per the original proposal, to service the parking spaces will result in the loss of an on-street permit parking space.
However, if the ramp is repositioned and reduced to 2.6 m to service a single parking space, the installation of the ramp
will not result in a loss of on-street permit parking space.
Conclusions:
The original application was approved in December 1993. The applicant did not obtain the necessary permit as she was
unable to proceed with the work in 1994, due to unforeseen circumstances. However, City staff did not advise her that the
rules were about to change before her application lapsed. Given this chronology, we are recommending that City Council
approve, notwithstanding the fact that there is permit parking on the street, either one space with a 2.6 m ramp (which will
not reduce the amount of on-street parking) or two spaces, with a 3.0 m ramp, per the original application.
Contact Name and Telephone Number:
Nino Pellegrini, 392-7778
Director
NP/np
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