Mayor Cam Guthrie

Is Your Driveway Too Wide? Upcoming Town-hall with Ward 1 Residents! #Guelph

Ward 1 Councillors Dan Gibson and Bob Bell, along with Mayor Cam Guthrie, are hosting an open public meeting to discuss driveway widths and street parking in Ward 1. Several residents have received letters from the City saying that their driveway width does not comply with the current zoning by-law and they are not permitted to park two cars side-by-side in their driveway.

If you are one of those residents, or a neighbour concerned about driveway and street parking, please come to this meeting to gain information and talk about next steps.

Thank you,

Cam

Cam Guthrie

19 responses to “Is Your Driveway Too Wide? Upcoming Town-hall with Ward 1 Residents! #Guelph”

  1. Marian Borg Avatar
    Marian Borg

    Did a decision come down with regards to parking, I received notice that my driveway was too wide (may I remind everyone MY DRIVEWAY), which has been this way for some 45 years. I was following the new guidelines, but became aware of a challenge to the existing by-law. My understanding was, that while this challenge was being debated, there would be no summonses issued. Low and behold, I received a summons to appear in court in January, for breaking the law in my driveway. Was there a resolution to this problem, or is this just City of Guelph doing what they are good at, creating ridiculous by-laws. My son said it all, “The City of Guelph controls our life, more than the Federal Government does. Maybe this is why there is such a low turnout for our local elections. This is one Guelph resident who will never vote for City Council

    Reply
    1. Cam Guthrie Avatar
      Cam Guthrie

      Hi Marian, driveway issue was addressed in September by council.

      Reply
  2. Will Drive Avatar
    Will Drive

    I have not been involved in this matter in any way. I have enough space in my driveway to park two vehicles.
    Due to insanely high cost of renting in this town, i am forced to rent out rooms in my home to strangers who also have cars. I now have 4 vehicles to this one house.
    No occupants take the bus for two reasons. Two of us are contractors and need vehicles for tools and materials, and the others would extend their travel time to over an hour when it it’s a two and five minute drive respectively.
    Maybe having a transit system would help the driveway situation? I know we have buses in town, but it’s more of a failed experiment in transit if anything.

    Reply
  3. lifetimeguelphite Avatar
    lifetimeguelphite

    Maybe Mike our newly elected MPP will have a comment on this. Do we want our front lawns paved or green? I want as much green as possible and trees can’t grow if there is no way water can get to the roots. Also aren’t we just becoming a city which is concerned about bees? I don’t think they live on pavement. BE SENSIBLE about this please! We are a university city and every home that has students in it will be paved over if this bylaw is rescinded.
    Thank you to city staff for responding to complaints when people do not follow the by laws that city council makes. They are doing their jobs and this is not overreaching. It is keeping if fair and even for all parts of our city
    If Councillors don’t like the bylaw (especially in an election year!) then support staff doing their jobs, and bring the bylaw to council for re-consideration. Making it a political hot potato in an election year looks like vote buying.

    Reply
    1. Cam Guthrie Avatar
      Cam Guthrie

      No one said I or other councillors agreed to paving our front lawns away, killing green space and destroying bees. You’ve presented an opinion that is an “either/or” instead of looking for compromise on a bylaw from 1995. That’s what I’m looking forward to discussing with residents, staff and my fellow councillors. I hope you’ll continue to engage in this as well.

      Reply
  4. Dipak Avatar
    Dipak

    The way home prices increased.New generation can not afford to buy or even rent.Kids needs to live with parrents.needs more parking.I do not understand how
    neighbouring cities can alllowing even Street parking during winter.

    Reply
  5. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    Its a money grab for guelph . I was among the first group of people to get the letter . End up going to court and a 500. Dollar fine. Now we have plannter pots blocking the driveway. Just look on Hewitt Lane .

    Reply
  6. R. Avatar
    R.

    It is wonderful to have a town hall regarding this topic and making people aware why we have these bylaws and how everyone can do their part to adhere to the same.

    You walk new development areas these days and you see complete frontyards being one sealed surface. It’s the driveway and then concrete on both sides, which clearly is not a walkway it’s increased parking space.
    Some have 3 cars parked side-by-side on a 36ft lot.
    I get it, most families need multiple vehicles as two or more people need one to get to work.
    But the bylaw itself and its enforcement is not the problem. It’s the right thing to do.
    If not we will soon have a debate about increasing costs for stormwater management and about outdoor water use restrictions, as with all these sealed surfaces no rain water will get back to our groundwater system.

    The challenge is that many properties these days fall in the category with such narrow driveways. The city may want to consider this when new development areas are planned and lot sizes are determined. Allow for some wider lots between some smaller ones.

    And for those of us challenged with this bylaw, let’s start cleaning out our garages and use that parking space.

    Reply
  7. Caitlyn Avatar
    Caitlyn

    Glad to hear the city is looking at this. As a past resident that recently moved away from Guelph from a house in the newer part of the Eastside one of the main reasons we moved was the increasing congestion on the street and the landscaping changing. Homes built for single families are turning into multi family homes where 3-4 cars are needed. Street width is definitely an issue but so are people not living within the rules. We recently drove past our old house and were extremely happy we left when we did

    Reply
  8. Jo C Avatar
    Jo C

    Hey Cam,

    I’m not going to be able to make the town hall so I was hoping to ask you my question here.

    I get the idea behind the bylaw in terms of being a drainage issue. What I don’t understand is the solution being offered by the city staff to use planters to block of the driveway extension. This doesn’t really solve the drainage issue since the driveway is still the same width so why can’t we just continue to use it as a driveway? Is this just to keep it fair so that people who already have an extended driveway don’t get more parking than those who haven’t done this yet? Or is it meant as a temporary measure until homeowners can save up to tear out the driveway extension?

    Thanks for taking the time to do this and I look forward to watching the stream!

    Reply
    1. Cam Guthrie Avatar
      Cam Guthrie

      We’ll be discussing this as well at the town hall.

      Reply
  9. Marty gordon Avatar
    Marty gordon

    Quit wasting public dollars and time on useless driveway width discrepencies. Instead focus your time on productive things like… oh i dunno….. anything else! As a contractor that follows building code….and promotes permits, this foolish debate discourages folks from working with the building department.

    Reply
    1. Cam Guthrie Avatar
      Cam Guthrie

      It’s an issue for many people right now Marty. Maybe not you, or me, or others but it’s an issue that I’m happy to hear people out on. It’s not a choice of doing a town-hall on this and not doing it on taxes for example, I can do both or many. Thanks for commenting though I appreciate it!
      Cam

      Reply
      1. Marty gordon Avatar
        Marty gordon

        Remember this? You said you could handle all the important issues while still addressing the unimportant driveway width issue which needed a town hall meeting!?
        Now look, suddenly at the last minute, you arent ready for marijuana stores in Guelph. So you will force the continued illegal sales by teenagers on the high school playground?
        But hey, atleast we talked publicly about driveway widths!
        What a joke. Goodbye Cam.

        Marty Gordon

      2. Cam Guthrie Avatar
        Cam Guthrie

        We’re engaging with the public right now to be ready for the Jan 22nd date as set by the Province. So we can multi-task at the city. No joke.

  10. Kelly Avatar
    Kelly

    Glad I’m leaving Guelph, the houses are all crammed in now with narrow streets, too narrow to park on without cluttering driving space. Then people come up with a way to make it work and it isn’t allowed. Guelph has become a joke. I have enough room and the driveway rules aren’t applicable to me, but on behalf of all the hard working people on my street who have to deal with this……. Guelph has screwed up big time.

    Reply
  11. Barry Avatar
    Barry

    What a bylaw!!! So now you would sooner have that second car on the street. Where is Guelph going in terms of being practical?

    Reply
  12. Mike Timmerman Avatar
    Mike Timmerman

    For those of us who cannot make it to the town hall, will there be any additional text communication (or even minutes from the meeting)?

    Reply
    1. Cam Guthrie Avatar
      Cam Guthrie

      I’m streaming it live from Facebook and will be available to watch anytime after on my Mayor Cam Guthrie Facebook page.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Marian BorgCancel reply

Discover more from Mayor Cam Guthrie

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading