When The Measurement; The Width of Your Hand Determines Your Sister’s Future
OR, If you want to help your family through reasonable building design standards – Toronto Fire Department may NOT make it easy for you.
A TORONTO STORY Sept. 2, 2019:
A wonderful 60 plus sister who wants to build for her sibling a single zoning approved lane house only to be blocked by an unscientific and refusal to verified (i.e., won’t give their reasoning) entrenched ideology in the guise of authority.
Ask yourself this; Can you have complete faith that the City of Toronto or the Province of Ontario or the Federal government will look after someone who cannot take care of themselves? No.
So, again, I was privileged to attempt to help a Toronto woman who wants to and is capable of taking care of her sister by planning for their combined futures without government assistance. Essentially to move her sister closer to her by getting zoning approval for a lane-house to be built in her back yard. You see, the one sister is a business person over the age of 60 who is taking care of her sibling, also over the age of 60. The sister being looked after has a condition whereby she cannot share an apartment or house space due to this particular condition. This is real. As such, the care-giving sister wanted to create a positive solution by making a separate lane home on her own property to accommodate this particular condition and have her sister within feet as opposed to miles away.
Long story short, we produced a lane home design that met ALL the conditions for the City of Toronto lane home zoning by-law. In other words, this solution did NOT require the committee of adjustment (C of A) approval. Can you imagine – No C of A required!! (See plans).
Zoning Approved Site Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved 1st Floor Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved 2nd Floor Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved Roof Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Preliminary Massing of Approved Solution
You will note the very simplicity of these plans. FYI: There are four types of architecture: 1) architecture of survival, 2) architecture of necessity, 3) architecture of comfort, and 4) the architecture of luxury. The zoning approved solution is the architecture of necessity; hence its modesty and simplicity.
This small necessary house is designed to be built quickly, to be safe, to be warm, manageable and homey.
As it turns out the fire department decided that the shared access exterior corridor between the existing houses was not acceptable to them to permit ‘simple access’ to the front door of the lane home. Additionally, the fire department will NOT ‘officially’ service an approved lane home by actually using a ‘legal’ lane to access the lane home should there be an actual fire or other emergencies. This ruling applies to all of Toronto. … SHOCKING? … Yes?
Therefore lane homes are limited to ‘simple access’. By ‘simple access’ I mean firemen and paramedics will access stairs and door openings in houses and buildings that are 2’- 10” or wider …and with heights of 6’-8” or more if they are a part of a building.
So the question is: why do they need 3’-3 ½” minimum width by 6’-10 ½” in minimum height between houses and accessible from the street before approving of a lane home?
*FYI: The distance between the client’s existing home and their neighbour is 0.92 metres or 3 feet and a ¼ inch with an agreed shared right-of-way on the title. In other words, more than required for a typical door opening to a house or building.
There are other permutations that arise when one evaluates the requirements of ‘simple access’ when the ‘legal lane’ is not honoured by the fire department. Such as:
1) What if there is no lane? … the connecting question, What if there is adequate space between homes either by pathway or driveway, why do we need to limit rear dwelling units to be on a lane? Remember, the fire department does NOT recognize a ‘legal’ lane as a means of access to a permitted lane home. … Weird eh?
2) What if planning would allow the maximum length of a house to increase that it might be possible to attach a living space to the rear of an existing home? This second point would meet the fire department’s need for approved minimum access because it is a part of an existing or proposed enclosing condition.
After having our ‘approved by zoning’ lane house denied by the fire department because of their ‘alternate’ reasoning agenda, I then design, PRO – BONO (at no cost), an extended house solution (point 2 from above) that would accommodate this wonderful effort by this Toronto woman to look after her sister. I explained that the problem will be that this solution exceeds the maximum length of house allowed under the present zoning and that it will need to be approved by zoning either through the C of A or the OMB.
This simple extension has certain very neighbourly and site friendly conditions. For example:
a) It was one storey high. Approximately 12 feet high.
b) It has a patio / garden on the roof that maintains the outdoor space for the existing home, albeit raised by one level.
c) It is near barrier-free compliant from the lane. That means it is suitable for wheelchair and walkers from the lane side entry.
d) It is slightly longer than a single car garage.
e) It is accessible either through the original house or independently through the side access between homes or from the lane.
f) It maintains the privacy of both the existing house and the new extension for independent living while being accessible enough for the fire department, paramedics and should extra help be required its occupant.
g) It maintains all the existing major trees and its root systems of the back yard. Helical piles whose installation is supervised by a registered arborist is part of this solution. I’ve done this before in some pristine ravine solutions. This is very amenable to neighbours and Toronto Forestry.
h) The patio / garden on top of the new rear addition will be accessible by stairs from the rear ground and through the exterior rear porch of the existing main home.
Floor Plan of Elongated Addition
Basic Roof Layout of Elongated Addition
Overall Rear Sketch View Looking South
Sketch View Looking from South Neighbour Roof
Sketch View From Lane
Sketch View From North Elevated.
2nd Sketch View Looking From Neighbour Roof
Sadly this wonderful Toronto woman seemed exhausted at the thought at hiring an additional planning consultant and planning lawyer as well as the extra time it would take to shepherd this design through the system. I could not blame her for stopping the project after the fire department’s decision. Even after the fact that I donated all the design drawings of that extended solution via pro bono.
This extended effort by me is to reward good people trying ‘to do the right thing’ in a way that simultaneously benefits the larger community and city. It is my way of giving back to the community and city that raised me and my kids. It is my way of being the example I would like my friends, family and community to have in order to help create terrific places to live and work with dignity, beauty and less stress.
I left the pro bono plans, i.e., the extended length of house plans, with this wonderful Toronto woman should she decide to proceed in the future.
If any designer, builder or architect would like to use, for free, these plans or its concept please do. Please give Spaces By Rohan Inc. a small written credit in your public presentations. That would be appreciated, thanks.
Spaces By Rohan
When The Measurement; The Width of Your Hand Determines Your Sister’s Future
Sketch View Looking from South Neighbour Roof
When The Measurement; The Width of Your Hand Determines Your Sister’s Future
OR, If you want to help your family through reasonable building design standards – Toronto Fire Department may NOT make it easy for you.
A TORONTO STORY Sept. 2, 2019:
A wonderful 60 plus sister who wants to build for her sibling a single zoning approved lane house only to be blocked by an unscientific and refusal to verified (i.e., won’t give their reasoning) entrenched ideology in the guise of authority.
Ask yourself this; Can you have complete faith that the City of Toronto or the Province of Ontario or the Federal government will look after someone who cannot take care of themselves? No.
So, again, I was privileged to attempt to help a Toronto woman who wants to and is capable of taking care of her sister by planning for their combined futures without government assistance. Essentially to move her sister closer to her by getting zoning approval for a lane-house to be built in her back yard. You see, the one sister is a business person over the age of 60 who is taking care of her sibling, also over the age of 60. The sister being looked after has a condition whereby she cannot share an apartment or house space due to this particular condition. This is real. As such, the care-giving sister wanted to create a positive solution by making a separate lane home on her own property to accommodate this particular condition and have her sister within feet as opposed to miles away.
Long story short, we produced a lane home design that met ALL the conditions for the City of Toronto lane home zoning by-law. In other words, this solution did NOT require the committee of adjustment (C of A) approval. Can you imagine – No C of A required!! (See plans).
Zoning Approved Site Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved 1st Floor Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved 2nd Floor Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Zoning Approved Roof Plan – A.K.A. No Committee of Adjustment
Preliminary Massing of Approved Solution
You will note the very simplicity of these plans. FYI: There are four types of architecture: 1) architecture of survival, 2) architecture of necessity, 3) architecture of comfort, and 4) the architecture of luxury. The zoning approved solution is the architecture of necessity; hence its modesty and simplicity.
This small necessary house is designed to be built quickly, to be safe, to be warm, manageable and homey.
As it turns out the fire department decided that the shared access exterior corridor between the existing houses was not acceptable to them to permit ‘simple access’ to the front door of the lane home. Additionally, the fire department will NOT ‘officially’ service an approved lane home by actually using a ‘legal’ lane to access the lane home should there be an actual fire or other emergencies. This ruling applies to all of Toronto. … SHOCKING? … Yes?
Therefore lane homes are limited to ‘simple access’. By ‘simple access’ I mean firemen and paramedics will access stairs and door openings in houses and buildings that are 2’- 10” or wider … and with heights of 6’-8” or more if they are a part of a building.
So the question is: why do they need 3’-3 ½” minimum width by 6’-10 ½” in minimum height between houses and accessible from the street before approving of a lane home?
*FYI: The distance between the client’s existing home and their neighbour is 0.92 metres or 3 feet and a ¼ inch with an agreed shared right-of-way on the title. In other words, more than required for a typical door opening to a house or building.
There are other permutations that arise when one evaluates the requirements of ‘simple access’ when the ‘legal lane’ is not honoured by the fire department. Such as:
1) What if there is no lane? … the connecting question, What if there is adequate space between homes either by pathway or driveway, why do we need to limit rear dwelling units to be on a lane? Remember, the fire department does NOT recognize a ‘legal’ lane as a means of access to a permitted lane home. … Weird eh?
2) What if planning would allow the maximum length of a house to increase that it might be possible to attach a living space to the rear of an existing home? This second point would meet the fire department’s need for approved minimum access because it is a part of an existing or proposed enclosing condition.
After having our ‘approved by zoning’ lane house denied by the fire department because of their ‘alternate’ reasoning agenda, I then design, PRO – BONO (at no cost), an extended house solution (point 2 from above) that would accommodate this wonderful effort by this Toronto woman to look after her sister. I explained that the problem will be that this solution exceeds the maximum length of house allowed under the present zoning and that it will need to be approved by zoning either through the C of A or the OMB.
This simple extension has certain very neighbourly and site friendly conditions. For example:
a) It was one storey high. Approximately 12 feet high.
b) It has a patio / garden on the roof that maintains the outdoor space for the existing home, albeit raised by one level.
c) It is near barrier-free compliant from the lane. That means it is suitable for wheelchair and walkers from the lane side entry.
d) It is slightly longer than a single car garage.
e) It is accessible either through the original house or independently through the side access between homes or from the lane.
f) It maintains the privacy of both the existing house and the new extension for independent living while being accessible enough for the fire department, paramedics and should extra help be required its occupant.
g) It maintains all the existing major trees and its root systems of the back yard. Helical piles whose installation is supervised by a registered arborist is part of this solution. I’ve done this before in some pristine ravine solutions. This is very amenable to neighbours and Toronto Forestry.
h) The patio / garden on top of the new rear addition will be accessible by stairs from the rear ground and through the exterior rear porch of the existing main home.
Floor Plan of Elongated Addition
Basic Roof Layout of Elongated Addition
Overall Rear Sketch View Looking South
Sketch View Looking from South Neighbour Roof
Sketch View From Lane
Sketch View From North Elevated.
2nd Sketch View Looking From Neighbour Roof
Sadly this wonderful Toronto woman seemed exhausted at the thought at hiring an additional planning consultant and planning lawyer as well as the extra time it would take to shepherd this design through the system. I could not blame her for stopping the project after the fire department’s decision. Even after the fact that I donated all the design drawings of that extended solution via pro bono.
This extended effort by me is to reward good people trying ‘to do the right thing’ in a way that simultaneously benefits the larger community and city. It is my way of giving back to the community and city that raised me and my kids. It is my way of being the example I would like my friends, family and community to have in order to help create terrific places to live and work with dignity, beauty and less stress.
I left the pro bono plans, i.e., the extended length of house plans, with this wonderful Toronto woman should she decide to proceed in the future.
If any designer, builder or architect would like to use, for free, these plans or its concept please do. Please give Spaces By Rohan Inc. a small written credit in your public presentations. That would be appreciated, thanks.
Rohan
Rohan Walters B.Arch., Principal Designer
Spaces By Rohan Inc.