Driveway Permits in Toronto were not a requirement before the City of Toronto amalgamated with North York, East York, Scarborough and Etobicoke. In 1998 there was peace in world of driveway contractors in Toronto. Homeowners were able to maintain their asphalt driveways with ease, so to speak.
The enforcement of driveway permits in Toronto although a by-law in the books was virtually unenforced anywhere other than North York. The only reason North York sought to enforce them was in response to the frustrations of homeowners who had their driveways replaced only to have the City come along and tear up the City owned portion for public works. The motion was passed by North York’s Council as a means to do a check and provide a clearance that no conflicting or planned work was scheduled for a given property.
Post amalgamation, the City began redistributing staff across the new Toronto. In 2008 the dust was blown off the old Scarborough By-law Book and it was discovered that Scarborough actually also had a requirement to obtain driveway permits. Northland Paving has been paving driveways in Scarborough and the rest of the GTA since 1985, legally, and driveway permits had never been a requirement until 2008.
The City of Toronto then faced the task of merging all of the different zoning by-laws and requirements into one fit for the City. Meanwhile, this left spotty and unequal interpretations of what constitutes a legal driveway.
Several attempts had been made trying to consolidate the zoning by-laws before finally being released in 2013.
It is still unclear as to the real reason for the requirement of driveway permits in Toronto. Northland Paving will explore this in a future post.
The City has stated that if an existing driveway size does not comply with the new zoning by-law but was legal before, it may grand-fathered and allowed to remain the same size. However, it is not the Zoning Dept. but rather Transportation Services, Right-of-Way Management that grants driveway permits and have different thoughts on the issue.