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Parking in Waterloo Region
Get a combine and park it on your lawn. That will piss off the neighbour who complained, and since self-propelled implements of husbandry are exempt... WIN -WIN!

Coke

(The "motor vehicle" definition is right out of the HTA, and not written with any particular street car decorations --- that aren't even in Waterloo anyway)
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How is this person not in trouble?

https://goo.gl/maps/LBVGXLgaA122

(Hmm - looks like it's been moved into the driveway. Maybe they just pull it out and park it on the grass sometimes? I seem to recall it being out on the lawn with slogans and so on all over it, but I only ever see it briefly in passing while driving by. Maybe I was remembering wrong.
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(06-11-2018, 12:20 PM)Canard Wrote: How is this person not in trouble?

https://goo.gl/maps/LBVGXLgaA122

(Hmm - looks like it's been moved into the driveway.  Maybe they just pull it out and park it on the grass sometimes?  I seem to recall it being out on the lawn with slogans and so on all over it, but I only ever see it briefly in passing while driving by.  Maybe I was remembering wrong.

I seem to recall that the City did oblige the owner to move the "tribute truck" into the driveway from out in the front yard.
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(06-11-2018, 12:20 PM)Canard Wrote: How is this person not in trouble?

https://goo.gl/maps/LBVGXLgaA122

(Hmm - looks like it's been moved into the driveway.  Maybe they just pull it out and park it on the grass sometimes?  I seem to recall it being out on the lawn with slogans and so on all over it, but I only ever see it briefly in passing while driving by.  Maybe I was remembering wrong.

This came up a number of years ago:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/260...-s-troops/

TLDR; He installed the truck as a tribute to Afghanistan war veterans.  Eventually someone complained.  He moved the truck to comply with the bylaw.  There was much controversy over it.

It's a great example of why bylaws are hard...and also an example of why complaint based bylaws can be problematic.
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(06-09-2018, 07:00 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(06-09-2018, 05:40 PM)jeffster Wrote: It wouldn't be the cops. A neighbour likely complained and City of Waterloo by-law came out and ticketed your guest. Sucks, so in the future, contact by-law and let them know a friend is parking on your grass.

Contacting bylaw won't help, the fact is, parking on your grass is against the city of Waterloo bylaw.  If you don't like it, lobby to have it changed, but there are reasons not to allow it, houses with many cars parked all over the property are unsightly and lower neighbouring property values.  You can argue your case is special, which then you have to define bylaws which allow the good cases, and not the bad ones--easier said than done.

Usually by-law isn't this hardcore first time around UNLESS he's been warned before. I know with the City of Kitchener they'll inform the person first of the bylaw and try to come up with a resolution if they know it's going to be an ongoing issue. In one case, the homeowner removed the grass and put in patio stones and stones, in a very pleasing fashion, and bylaw was fine, no violations.

Not suggesting that the OP had been spoken to before, I just find it odd that no 'warning shots' weren't given first if they hadn't already.
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(06-09-2018, 07:00 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Contacting bylaw won't help, the fact is, parking on your grass is against the city of Waterloo bylaw.  If you don't like it, lobby to have it changed, but there are reasons not to allow it, houses with many cars parked all over the property are unsightly and lower neighbouring property values.

And this is how you get neighbourhoods where most of the frontage is garage doors.
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(06-11-2018, 04:39 PM)jeffster Wrote: Usually by-law isn't this hardcore first time around UNLESS he's been warned before. I know with the City of Kitchener they'll inform the person first of the bylaw and try to come up with a resolution if they know it's going to be an ongoing issue.  In one case, the homeowner removed the grass and put in patio stones and stones, in a very pleasing fashion, and bylaw was fine, no violations.

Not suggesting that the OP had been spoken to before, I just find it odd that no 'warning shots' weren't given first if they hadn't already.

At one point I heard that whatever ground cover used for the "new" parking spot needs to match the existing.  So if you had an asphalt driveway and made a "new" parking spot off to the side with gravel, it could be a problem.  That is...if you have a bunch of neighbors with nothing better to do than to grind an axe.
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(06-11-2018, 05:43 PM)kps Wrote:
(06-09-2018, 07:00 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: Contacting bylaw won't help, the fact is, parking on your grass is against the city of Waterloo bylaw.  If you don't like it, lobby to have it changed, but there are reasons not to allow it, houses with many cars parked all over the property are unsightly and lower neighbouring property values.

And this is how you get neighbourhoods where most of the frontage is garage doors.

I don't think that's at all related, parking minimums contribute much much more...I don't think a developer could sell a home with "3 parking spaces" in which your front lawn was the third....even if it wasn't against bylaw.
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(06-11-2018, 06:57 PM)embe Wrote:
(06-11-2018, 04:39 PM)jeffster Wrote: Usually by-law isn't this hardcore first time around UNLESS he's been warned before. I know with the City of Kitchener they'll inform the person first of the bylaw and try to come up with a resolution if they know it's going to be an ongoing issue.  In one case, the homeowner removed the grass and put in patio stones and stones, in a very pleasing fashion, and bylaw was fine, no violations.

Not suggesting that the OP had been spoken to before, I just find it odd that no 'warning shots' weren't given first if they hadn't already.

At one point I heard that whatever ground cover used for the "new" parking spot needs to match the existing.  So if you had an asphalt driveway and made a "new" parking spot off to the side with gravel, it could be a problem.  That is...if you have a bunch of neighbors with nothing better to do than to grind an axe.

I am not sure exactly how these friends of mine got around any by-law in Kitchener, but it was on Van Camp in Kitchener, on the right going away from St. Mary's Hospital.  They're not living there as they upgraded (so I feel comfortable posting the house). See picture below so you can see what they did, that addition used to be grass.

   
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(06-11-2018, 08:11 PM)jeffster Wrote:
(06-11-2018, 06:57 PM)embe Wrote: At one point I heard that whatever ground cover used for the "new" parking spot needs to match the existing.  So if you had an asphalt driveway and made a "new" parking spot off to the side with gravel, it could be a problem.  That is...if you have a bunch of neighbors with nothing better to do than to grind an axe.

I am not sure exactly how these friends of mine got around any by-law in Kitchener, but it was on Van Camp in Kitchener, on the right going away from St. Mary's Hospital.  They're not living there as they upgraded (so I feel comfortable posting the house). See picture below so you can see what they did, that addition used to be grass.

Looks like a walkway to me Wink . 

Here's another example. Curb cut remains the same but concrete is extended onto front lawn.
[Image: walkway.jpg]

As with most by-laws, they only apply when someone complains.
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I think it's been mentioned here before, but I appreciate when a house, even one with a two-car garage/driveway, only gets one car width of curb cut. Allowing for a house to curb-cut a second width actually allows them to annex public space, by taking what was a parallel parking spot that is available to the public, and putting a driveway in its place which can only be used by the resident. If a driveway is widened but no new curb cut permitted, at least in that case no public property has been annexed.
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(06-12-2018, 10:34 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I think it's been mentioned here before, but I appreciate when a house, even one with a two-car garage/driveway, only gets one car width of curb cut. Allowing for a house to curb-cut a second width actually allows them to annex public space, by taking what was a parallel parking spot that is available to the public, and putting a driveway in its place which can only be used by the resident. If a driveway is widened but no new curb cut permitted, at least in that case no public property has been annexed.

I don't think I've ever noticed this on a new-build.  Is it common?
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In general, the Cities turn blind eyes, but they do have the right to request that homeowners reduce their driveways back to the original width. Typically, they would request that the driveway be shrunk if there was a concern for too much runoff and not enough infiltration. I also seem to recall that the neighbourhoods west of Erbsville Road have run into similar problems once families grew up and became 3-4 car families due to a lack of transit and other transportation options to get anywhere else in town, particularly for teenagers and young adults to get to school, work, and/or anything else where carpooling wasn't an option.
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(06-12-2018, 10:34 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I think it's been mentioned here before, but I appreciate when a house, even one with a two-car garage/driveway, only gets one car width of curb cut. Allowing for a house to curb-cut a second width actually allows them to annex public space, by taking what was a parallel parking spot that is available to the public, and putting a driveway in its place which can only be used by the resident. If a driveway is widened but no new curb cut permitted, at least in that case no public property has been annexed.

 I suppose there are some higher density areas where street parking is a problem (rather than parking up the block a couple spots and walking).  Who would do the curb cutting anyway, the City?
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Parking rates to increase in uptown Waterloo


Quote:The first 25 cent raise will happen in 2019, raising it from $2.75 per hour currently to $3. Monthly parking permit rates will also go up 2.5 per cent.

Council approved a 10-year forecast that will see the hourly parking rates increase by 25 cents every three years. The next rise will be in 2022, then 2025 and 2028.

Also included are 2.5-3% increases for monthly passes.
The move is to push parking to be financially self-sustaining.
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