General Road and Highway Discussion

[ijmorlan]

I believe the street line is the curb — the edge of the driveable street; but I have an idea that it continues straight at intersections rather than following the turn radius.

This is based on an old recollection of reading the bylaw (in the Region of Ottawa) which defined where stop signs are supposed to be, and in addition to many specific stop signs (“northbound on X St. at Y Ave.”), it gave what I think were called rights of way, something like “Preston St. from the north street line of Carling Ave. to the south street line of Scott St.”, which would mean that any street intersecting Preston St. between Carling and Scott would have a stop sign.

Wouldn't the "street" line follow the actual edge of the right of way, which includes the possible boulevard, plus the sidewalk, plus a bit more yet beyond just the curb? In the zoning codes I believe the minimum setbacks are defined as from teh edge of your property, not the curb of the road.

That is also possible. Where I believe I saw the term was in a situation where what matters is the actual edge of the road, regardless of where the property boundary is; and one can imagine that driveway placement would similarly be based on where the road is rather than the property boundary.

That being said, you’re right that zoning setbacks are based on property boundaries, and it’s been a long time so I might be remembering completely wrong in the first place.