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Lot width / frontage questionnaire

nerudite

nerudite

Cyburbian
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I'm currently the project manager of a Land Use Bylaw (Zoning Ordinance) review that is going forward to Council next month. One of the more controversial requests from the development community is to allow for smaller single detached family lots. I've done a survey of Alberta municipalities already, and the lot widths/frontages are incredibly small compared to what I remember lot sizes being in the States.

So more out of curiosity than anything, I'd love to poll my fellow Cyburbians to find out the following:

1) What is the minimum lot width/frontage requirement for your typical single family detached lot?

2) What is the type of community and size (i.e. suburb w/ 50,000 persons, large city with 1M persons, rural county, etc.)

3) When were the regulations last updated?



My answers (just in case you are interested):

1) 11.5 m/38 ft (contemplating as low as 10 m/33 ft, developers want 8.6 m/28.2 ft)
2) Suburb of 55,000
3) 1994
 
70 feet wide (for new lots); buildable lots can be down to 50 feet wide/6,250 sqft
suburb of 75,000
several decades
 
Rural/Recreational County

Residential Districts (3 2 single family, 1 multiple family) require an average lot width of 200 feet/150 feet/100 feet (unless there is a community wastewater or water system then 125 feet/125 feet/100 feet). Minimum lot width is 50 feet to account for cul-de-sacs.

Last complete rewrite finished in March of 2004.
 
my numbers won't help much....:

1) 150' of frontage for a single family, 200' for a duplex.

2) suburban community of 25K

3) Frontage requirements haven't been changed since the 1970's.
 
Our is based on zoning district. The AG districts have a higher requirements, the residential has lower. Plus, the higher the density, the smaller the width. Finally, we have a road frontage requirement and a maximum lot depth requirement.

I work for a county of 130,000 that this a mix of ag and suburbs. The current Ordinance was adopted in 2002.
 
Minimum lot width for a SFR district is 75 feet.

Suburban/Rural community of +28,0000

Zoning code last updated in 2002.
 
Small City (suburb of major metropolitan area)
40,000 population
60' street frontage (lot area of 7,200 sq. ft)
2002

We have lots that may be developed as of right for single-family as small as 18x100 BUT they must have been of record prior to 1958.

We are most commonly seeing developers wanting to reduce the 60' frontage to 50'.
 
Suburban Community
Pop = 300 K
Minimum for a SUD = 12 m

We go as low as 7.5 m for each semidetatched and as high as 45 m for Rural Residential, plus we have lots of exceptions.
 
donk said:
Suburban Community
Pop = 300 K
Minimum for a SUD = 12 m

We go as low as 7.5 m for each semidetatched and as high as 45 m for Rural Residential, plus we have lots of exceptions.
Click to expand...
Just wondering... when was your bylaw updated last? Just trying to assess who has tried to implement smaller lots due to smart growth, etc. Thanks! :)
 
And now for something very different . . .

-4th largest city in the US
-NO ZONING
-Development code last updated in 1999, with some "tweaking" currently at the legal department's desk

- 20 feet minimum lot frontage on a street
- 3,500 sq ft minimum lot size in Urban area (defined as inside Loop 610)
- 5,000 sq ft minimum lot size in Suburban area (defined as outside Loop 610)

--areas reserved for drainage/detention must have 60 feet of frontage on a street with 60 ROW (currently in for tweaking, change to 60' on 50 ROW)
--areas reserved for Compensating Open Space (a way to have smaller lots) must have a minimum size of 12'x20'
--in Urban areas only, can develop for townhomes with lots as small as 1400 sq ft, but are limited to 60% lot coverage and a net density of 27du/a

And don't forget deed restrictions - if they conflict with city code, then whichever is MOST stringent applies
 
1)
R-1 = 60 ft.; min lot size = 6,000 sqft; lot coverage 30%; front yard 25 ft.
R-2 through R-5 = 50 ft.; min lot size = 5,000 sqft; lot coverage = 40%

2) Medium City; 121,000

3) Various yrs.
 
I worked for a suburban town that actually encouraged 60' wide lots of 8,000 sqaure feet. Our state law allows them as small as 60 feet and 6,000 square feet, if I recall. EDIT: Last updated 1993

My last job, 120' wide and 12,500 - 20,000 sqaure feet was the norm. EDIT: Last updated 1963

Wihtout sewers, most of my rural suburban client communities require an acre due to on-site sanitary codes. EDIT: Last updated 1992
 
Last edited:
60 foot lot width
population of Sonoma County (unincorporated areas)- don't know what the population is in the unincorporated areas... I would guess 85,000...?
1989 last update
 
1) Ten metres. (standard small lot is supposed to be 10x40, according to the council, though they tend to be either 16 or 12 perches.)
2) Brisbane City ... about 930 000 I think.
3) The new Small Lot Code came into effect in early 2004.
 
nerudite said:
Just wondering... when was your bylaw updated last? Just trying to assess who has tried to implement smaller lots due to smart growth, etc. Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

By-law was reviewed and updated about 5 years ago, and those numbers are smaller then in the past.

As noted, we do alot of exceptions, so there are SUD's on smaller lots, from what I can tell probably in the 8m range.

Most developments advertise 40-60 foot lots as the sales feature. Need a lot that wide to fit the 3 car garage on the front of the house.
 
Varies on the type of single-family zoning from 50' - 80' and on developments over 2 acres it goes to density. So if you want small lots w/ open space, or small and large lots combined you can do that, as long as you meet setbacks, minimum dwelling size and coverage requirments.

100K+ population

Updated 2001, uhhh... I think... :-x
 
100 ft minimum width for residential, 150' for commercial, except for PUDs with central water/sewer which can go down to 40'

"Suburban"-type County (population about 225,000)

Code constantly being updated/revised, including today. :cool:

(I went to U of A for grad school, and just loved Edmonton!!! Met my husband there, too!)
 
1) 40 feet minimum & 5,000 square feet for older residential areas (single family); 50 feet minimum and & 6,000 square feet (two-family)

Newer areas are typically at least 70 - 80 feet & a subdivision requires no lot smaller than 8,000 square feet and an average of 10,000 square feet. It depends on the zoning district...we have 10 single/two family districts.

2) Medium urban city, 93,000

3) Updated continuously, but last major update was in 1987
 
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