Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

[mwatermasy001]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here....when I returned home from vacation yesterday, I had a letter from my local planning/zoning office stating that is was against "code" to park my boat in my driveway. According to this letter, it can be in the rear-yard, garage, or under a carport. Ideally, I would love to store it in my rear-yard, the problem being it is physically impossible where I live.<br /><br />The boat is only in the driveway during the summer and in storage during the winter...I can not understand the reasoning behind this (i.e safety) as it can be stored inside the garage, but won't fit. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Do I ignore the notice or pay to store it somewhere? It does not seem reasonable to have to pay to store it when I have room in my driveway, it's like being punished for having an inaccesible yard. The zoning officer offered no explanation, other than that is what the code says...I'm thinking of placing a temporary car port over my driveway to see what they say about that, but would rather not do that.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Your stuck.<br />You've been notified.<br />Fines will be next.<br /><br />Adding a carport probably requires getting a permit.<br /><br />Can you add on to the rear of your garage to make it bigger?<br /><br />Or add a door to the backside of the garage so you can get the boat in the backyard?

 

[CCrew]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Just find a cheap vehicle to hook it to in the driveway.. If it's hitched to something it's "in transport" <br /><br />I had that issue with my RV (32' Travel trailer). Combine it with a PITA neighbor, and every time I had it at the house I had the sheriff here. So, now when I have it here I leave it hooked to the truck and when the PITA tried it again the sheriff said there wasn't a thing they could do <br /><br />I had more fun with a full caged race car in the driveway. Put a legal tag on it and watched the neighbor fume!<br /><br />Sounds like a jealous neighbor complained on you. Just figure out who it is, halloween is coming soon

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

mwatermasy001. Just went through this ourselves. Check your deed restrictions and/or charter for the subdivision. When we researched ours, it stated that the boat trailer had to be behind the setback line. Our setback line is 25' from the road and the trailer WAS behind it. We live on the water and nearly every yard has a boat/trailer in it. I can understand if the boat isn't running and half torn apart, but our letter was for the trailer only, our boat is in a slip under the house. <br /><br />After we talked t a few of our neighbors and they all received letters too, we didn't feel so bad. Especially, when one of them told us, he recevied a letter for having his garage door in the up position for more than a day.

 

[Capn Mike]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

This is why I'm not building my retirement home near the rednecks and hillbillies.... Who knows, next you folks will be complaining they won't let you keep enough dogs to prop up the porch on your single wides.....

 

[bubbakat]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

That is why I live in the country.<br /><br />BTW Capitan mike i am a hillbilly and yes my neck gets a little red when someone flames someone because he or she choses to live somewhere you wouldn't

 

[Solittle]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

I have had a boat of one kind or another in my driveway for 28 years. Came home one day a couple of months back and found the same type of notice. At first I was fuming. Then I started remembering neighborhoods I've been through with boats, cars or campers that were little more than wrecks sitting in driveways. <br /><br />I would not want my neighborhood turned into a junkyard. With that in mind I moved my current boat to the side of my house and was kinda glad that the rule was there. Sorry about your situation with no easy place to put yours though.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

I don't have any sort of restrictions in my neighborhood, but I stash my rigs anyway. It does look just a little ghetto to have a bunch of rigs and boats laying around. I hide my trailer behind the garage when the boat is at my dock, and the boat/trailer goes into the garage when the season is over. I can appreciate your dilemma though. When I lived in town I fenced in my backyard with a gate to pull the boat into when not in use. Neighbors are a pain. It is always the one with the loud barking dogs that complain the most...

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

It's not a safety issue at all. It's the issue of some neighbors thinking your boat is ugly. You probably signed something agreeing to that rule when you moved in. If it was me I'd probably get one of those $99 plastic carports from K-mart and put it up in my driveway...then the boat would be under a car port.

 

[DJ]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Your boat(s) may be your pride and joy. However, they may not be someone else's.<br /><br />My neighborhood has rules too. I abide by them.<br /><br />If you do not like them-move.<br /><br />You cannot expect to move into a neighborhood and expect them to change the rules for your circumstance.<br /><br />How would you like it if someone decided to put a junk car on blocks in their front yard. I guess, not a bit.<br /><br />You have rights-true. As long as they do not infringe on someone else's. Your neighbors rights are written, yours are not.

 

[wezie]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Find a storage facility. Boats are beautiful, but not in front of the house. (Motor homes, trailers, buses, extra cars, yard cars, etc) <br />Basically; the price of storage is being taken from the property values of your neighborhood.<br />As houses get closer together, this will be a very common happening.<br />Awhile back, a 70 yr old man, living in a new neighborhood, was whining to the TV twits that he could not park his bus size motor home in his yard. Looked like a grown man, didn't sound like one.<br />Good Luck!

 

[Wingnutt]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

I had some neigbors like that once. They were a royal PITA. Over the years the fur flew between us. Some of my paybacks were creative. One spring his yard turned into a cabbage patch. Hehe 5 pounds of cabbage seed sewn on a rainy spring nite had that looser going apeship trying to pull them out. In case you are wondering cabbage looks like crap and smells even worse when it's young. Of course it goes without saying that the neighborhood nazi (aka, housing association president) recieved numurous complaints about his yard from an anominus person. I moved out when they dictated house colors, meaning that i would have to spend big $$ to have my house painted an approved color (no DIYing). After the house was sold and before the new owners (suckers ) moved in, I went and found the slimiest, smellest crack head I could find and payed him to act like he was going to buy it. Needless to say Mr. noisy came trotting over (I don't know how be cause he was so fat he had to waddle to walk), after introducing him to the "new owner" he started to sweat bullets. The clincher was when when I "agreeded" to sell him the house for $1. I swear I thought Mr. PITA was gonna have a stroke right then and there. About a year later I was in the area and crused by the house. I saw the owner in the yard and had to stop and ask if they had had any problems. He gave me a funny look and said no, why? I gave him a quick history lesson and after he stopped laughing he told me that Mr. PITA had had his house up for sale and there was a sold sign on the sign when they moved in a month later. He had never even seen him. I made quite a bit when I sold that house and found out later that Mr. PITA lost his butt trying to dump his house before that crack head he thought had bought my house moved in.

 

[CTD]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

I moved here 30 years ago, at that time there were no rules about storing rvs and boats. Since then they are building houses all around me and now they put in rules to keep my boat and camper out. Should I be expected to move or change my lifestyle because someone built a 2 story house next door and dosn't like the looks of my yard? Who gets to decide what looks good and what dosn't. Oh well you can't win just fight it as long as you can.

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

If you were there first you should absolutely be able to do whatever you want - and I'd take them to court if I couldn't. If you moved into a neighborhood with rules, you should follow them...unless you can find little loopholes.

 

[Northern Eclipse]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Had the by-law enforcement make a visit once when I had boat in driveway, the by-law states that all vechicles including boat must have a valid tag and be mobile, I showed him my trailer and the 2 wheels it had I also showed him the Ontario Tag attached to the trailer...He said have a nice day...

 

[steam_mill]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Rules were created to protect the interest of most residents in an area. Although I'm a boater, my boat is at the cottage not at home. I've never had a problem.<br /><br />However, I live in a nice clean neighbourhood. Not a ritzy area of Toronto but conservative area with bungalows of 1400 square feet. Everyone take pride in their homes except one person.<br /><br />He has a rusted out Jag on his lawn. Well when the rusted out accord came, I had to complain. Do you blame me?<br /><br />Anyway, when I called to get the bylaw enforced I asked about RV's, Trailers and boats and what the rules were:<br /><br />May to October RV's and Boats ARE permitted to be parked in driveway. The rest of the year, they are to be in the garage or in storage.<br /><br />The reason why? In Toronto, Boats and RV's are used during these months. This allows the owners to more easily use them (5 minuts from Lake Ontario).<br /><br />Maybe you should try to get your bylaws changed because you do seem reasonable not storing your boat all year.

 

[richmatt]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Nothing to do with boating but my wife had letter for hanging out washing in the back yard! Apparently washing isnt athetically pleasing <br /><br />What a joy it is to live in the land of the free

 

[lakeman1999]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

When I was a child (many years ago) this was a free country, "NOT ANYMORE".

 

[dhammann]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

What about UGLY people in the driveway? I would much rather look at a boat!!

 

[jrc27]

Re: Zoning regulations - Boat in Driveway

Personaly what i would do is go out and buy the ugliest truck i could find for under $200 (with a hitch or drill a hole in the bumper and mount a ball) hook the boat to it and see how they complain about that.. see if a compromise can't be made.. legally the boat is in tow and for all they know it is heading to the lake the next day..<br /><br />(and by ugly truck i mean a few different colored panels, maybe some rust, just so it is passible for inspection)