HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-049 - Property Entrance PolicyTOWNSHIP OF LEEDS AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS
BY-LAW 08-049
BE I NG A BY -LAW TO ESTABLISH A TOWNSI-llP PROPERTY ENTRANCE
POLICY
WHEREAS th e Municipal Act imposes on local municipalities the obligation to manage
and maintain the public road system lying within the boundaries of the municipality;
AND WHEREAS the Township receives requests from time to time from ratepayers and
othe r interested parties for pennission to construct entrances from private property to
tow nship roads;
AND WHEREAS the Township has a responsibility to ensure all entrances to township
roads are safe for the public who use the township roads;
NOW THEREFORE the Council of The Corporation of the Township of Leeds and the
housand Islands enacts as follows:
11. Criteria
1.1 The Township of Leeds and the Tho usand Islands Public Works
Department will consider the following criteria when reviewing all
applications for new entrances or alterat ion s to entrances:
a) Protection of the public through the creation of safe traffic
movement conditions onto and from township roads.
b) Operation of the traffic travelling on the township road network.
c) Protection of the public investment in township road facilities.
d) Optimizing towns hip expenditures on the construction and
maintenance of private entranceways.
e) Providing legal access to t ownship roads from adjacent private
property.
f) Minimizing future maintenance problems and reconstruction costs.
g) Visibility of drivers on township roads and of drivers entering the
public road from the ent rance. .
h) Provincial policies and standards relative to drainage requirements
and entrance construction.
Entrance permits
2.1 Entrance permits are required for:
a) Creation of a new entrance (paved or unpaved).
b) Changing the design of an existing entrance.
c) Changing the location of an existing entrance.
d) Changing the use of an existing entrance (e.g. from residential to
commercial).
e) Construction of a temporary entrance or the use of any part of
the highway right -of-way as a means of temporary access .
f) Construction of an off road parking area.
Definitions
a) Field entrance: is an entrance that provides access to agricult ur al
fields.
b) Farm entrance: is an entrance that provides access to farm buildings
and agricult ur a l lands.
c) Residential entrance: is an entrance that provides access to residential
facilities offo ur units or less.
d) Commercial/I ndu strial/In stitutional entrance : is an ent rance that provides
access to a business where goods or services are manufactured or sold to
the public and includes, as well, residential facilities offive or more units .
.. .12
Property Entrance Policy By-law 08-049 -Page 2
e) Temporary entrance: is an e ntr ance tha t pr ovi de s acces s to propertie s
for a limit ed period not to excee d six mo nths for the purpo se of
construction, repairs or improv eme nt on that property or to facilitate a
staged development.
f) Emergency entrance: is an e ntrance that pro v ides access to
subdivision development s for emergency veh icle s only, in the event
that the access to the development is n ot pa ssa ble. Adequate measure s
are to be incorporated in the emergency access to prevent (adequately
discourage) use by pri vate residents o r delivery vehicles.
g) Off road parking a rea : is a parking a re a a lo ng a town s hip road for a
propert y that ca nn ot ga in yea r-r ou nd access from a driveway. Usually
re se rved for loc atio ns w ith steep s lo pe s and sma ll lo t s izes.
h) A pplic a nt : s h a ll mean the per so n who sig ns the entrance permit
application and make s him se lf/h e rse lf responsible for the in s tallati o n
of the entrance or parking area.
i) Entrance p e rmit : is a permit iss ued by the Township to give
permi SS Ion to an applicant t o construct a n e ntranc e of a town s hip
road.
j) Temp o rary permit: is a permit iss ued before and while the work i s
bein g completed o n th e entrance. Temporary permits mu s t be
co nfirm ed as perman ent permit s wi thin 120 days or the entrance s hall
be removed by the Township.
k) Design: shall mean the requirements, as set out by th e Director of
Public Works or hi s /h er designate, which need to be met in order t o
construct an entran ce. Requirem e nts ma y include a culvert, the s i ze
and length of which s ha ll be de te rmined b y the Director of Public
Works o r hi s /her designate, the amo unt of gravel needed and th e grade
of the gravel, the s lope needed on the entrance, etc.
Procedure for application of entrance permit
4.1 An application fo r a n e ntrance permit sha ll be filled out whenever an
owner o r his age nt wishes to create an e ntrance as defined in section
2. The app li ca t ion sha ll be returne d to th e Director of Public Works or
hi s /her des ignate for in spec tion of the described area and approval of
the proposed de s ign. If the a re a a nd the design are acceptable to the
Direct o r of Public Works or hi s /her de s ign ate , he /s he will is s ue a
temporary permit.
4 .2 Except in th e case of the construction of a new entrance, the Director
of Public Works or hi s/her designate, when requested , shall do a final
in s pection on the work done and if it is acceptable to the Director of
Public Works or hi s /her de s ignat e a permanent pennit shall be is s ued.
4 .3 In the case of the construction of a new entrance, a temporary permit
must be iss ued with the building permit. Temporary construction
entrances would not require culverts unle ss intolerable water/drainage
conditions a re present and a culvert is deemed necessary by the
Director of P ublic Works or hi s /her designate.
4.4 Upo n completion of co n s tructi on , a permanent entrance must be
in sta lled as per a d es ign approved b y the Director of Public Works o r
hi s/her designate . The pennan en t entrance may be in the same
loc ation as th e t e mp orary entrance .
4.5 Upon final in s pecti o n by the Director of Public Work s or his /her
designate , a pe rma nent entrance permit shall be iss ued.
4.6 An entrance ma y b e installed by the Tow n s hip o r the ow ner or hi s
age nt. If the Township installs the penn a nent entrance, the full cost of
the in sta ll atio n s hall be charged to the ow ner of the property. When
the i ns tallati o n is comp lete, a n in vo ic e s h a ll be se nt to the owner of
the property. If the property owner does not pay the in vo ic e w ithin 30
da ys, th e a mount pa ya bl e s hall b e tra n sfe rr ed t o th e ow ner's propert y
tax acco unt and collected in the same m anner as propert y taxes.
. . ./3
Property Entrllllcc Policy 6y-l:.lw 08 -049 -Page 3
5. Location of entrances
5.1 The propo se d entra nc e loca ti on is to be c l ea rl y illu strated on a sketc h
that is to accompa n y the app li cat io n for a n e ntra nc e perm it.
5 .2 The s ke tch mu st prov id e enough informa ti o n to enable s taff to locate it
in the field, i.e. dimensions to building s and /or landmarks like fences,
hedgerows , and tree line s, etc.
5.3 The Township may restrict the placement of an a cces s t o a township
road in the int erest of public safety. New accesses must be located so
as to pro vide , in th e opi ni on of the Director of Public Works or
hi s/her de s ign ate:
• Safe moveme nt of public traffic, pedestrians or othe r users of th e
highwa y.
• Favo rab le vis ion , g rade, and a li g nm e nt conditions for a ll traffic using
the proposed access to th e towns hip road.
Restrictions
6 .1 In gene ra l, new entra n ces w ill o nl y be permitted whe re , in th e o pini on of
the Director of Public Wo rk s or hi s/her des ignat e, the entrance wi ll no t
create un sa fe traffic o pera ti ng co nd iti o ns, is not too close to an
int ersectio n o r a brid ge and th e sig ht di sta nces are adequ ate for entering
and exiting the towns hip road.
Mi nimum v isibilitv requir e ments
7.1 a) Residential/Fie ld/Fa nn entrances: Fo r n ew ly created r es idential lo ts, the
minimum si te di s tance is 12 0 m ete rs (394 ft) in each direction where th e
posted s peed is 70 km/h o r less and 15 0 meters (430 ft) in each direc ti o n
where the pos ted s peed is high er th an 70 km /h.
b) Co mm e rc ia lll ndu s tr ia illn s titu t io na l entra nc e: For new ly created
co mmercial, industrial o r institutional entrances the minimum s it e distance
is 180 m eters (600 ft) in each direction where the p osted s peed limit is 70
km /h o r les s and 200 meters (660 ft) in each direct io n where the posted
s pe ed is higher th an 70 km /h.
7.2 Fo r eX lst ll1g lot s of record, resident ial, tield /fann entrances m ay be
cons idere d with reduced site distances if no a ltern at ive entrance is
ava il ab le. S uch lo ts mu s t have a minimum sigh t dist ance of 90 meters
(2 95 tt) in eac h direction. Entr a nce in sta llation/co nst ructi o n may require
traftic warn in g s ignage .
De s ign standards
8 .1 The design of any entrance to a township road s ha ll be in accordance with
the provi s ion s of thi s by-law and require t he approva l of the Directo r of
Public Works o r hi s/he r designate . Most entrances w ill include th e
in stallation of a culvert. A ll work n eeded for the construction of an
entrance/access s ha ll be the so le respo nsibility of the app licant.
8 .2 As a mil1lmum, new e ntr a nces to a township r oad mu st be de s igned ,
cons tru cted, a nd maintained in a manner that will prev ent surface water
from th e entranceway or fro m t he adjo ining property being discharged
via the n ew e ntranc e onto the tra ve lled p o rtion of the town s hip ro a d.
9 JI Maintenance of entrances
9.1 Property ow ner s hav ing access t o a tow ns hip r oa d are fully responsibl e
for the m a intenanc e of the en t rance including the surface (gravel,
asphalt , co ncrete, etc .) as we ll as the removal of snow and ice and
keeping the portion of the e ntrance w ith i n th e right-of-way in a safe
condit ion fo r ve hicul ar traffic.
. . .14
Property Enlrance Pol icy By-la w 08-049 -Page 4
9.2 T h e Tow ns hip s h a ll b e responsible for the m a inten ance of th e culve rt
and dra in age thr o ugh the c ul vert.
10. Replacement o f entrance culverts
10.1 If the e ntr a nc e in c lu des a cu lvert, the property ow ner sha ll be
re spo nsib le for the replacement of th e cu lve rt whe n the ne ed arises. If,
in t h e op ini o n of th e Director of P ubli c Works o r hi s/her designate, a
replacement c ul vert is required a n d th e property owner fails to replace
it after being a d v ised in wri tin g and been g ive n at le ast s i x ty (60) da ys
to r e pl ace the culvert, the Township s ha ll repl ace the c ulv e rt and
in vo ice th e property owne r for the cos t of t h e replacement. If the
propert y owner does not pay the in voice with in 30 days, the a moun t
p ayab l e s hall b e tr a ns ferred to the ow n er's property tax account and
collected in the sa m e manner as property t axes.
11. N umber and width of entrances
11.1 It w ill be th e policy of the Townsh ip to:
a) Limit th e width of accesses to discourage the cons tru ction of
entra n ces w id er th an requ ir ed for the sa fe and rea so n a bl e use of
the entra nce .
b) Li mit the number of accesses to a property to th e number required
for the safe and reasonable access to the tow n ship road and in
general, conformity w ith the following:
1) Residences -o ne p er property (excep t in certain circumstances
where it is dee m e d to be a safer e ntr ance whe n a circle dri ve
ha s b een constructed).
2) Farm Buildings -o ne per farm (except in excep ti o nal
ci rcumstances).
3) Fa rm Entran ce -o ne field ent ran ce per fa rm with additional
field entrances where natur al obst ructi o ns wi thin th e field
prevent r easonab le access across the field.
4) Com m e rc ia llI ndu s tri a l Entra n ces -maximum of two wit h a
minimum spacing of 30 metre s between en tranc es.
2. F illing in of ditches
12.1 F ill i ng in of ditch es in front of prope rt ies w ill o nl y be a ll owed in
specia l c ir cu ms t an ces us ing co nst ru c ti on meth ods approved by the
Director of Public Work s or hi s /h e r de sig nate .
3. Mut ual entrances
13.1 Mut ua l (or "common") e ntr ances ar e en t rances se r v ing m o r e than one
lot. Typ i ca ll y, they ser ve two lo ts, but it is not unc om mon for such
entrances to se rve three or fo ur lo ts as we ll.
13.2 Beca use of potential owners hip problem s, mutual ent r ances sh o ul d o nl y
be considered in th e fo ll owing si tuations:
i. Individ ual entrances are not possible due to ph ys ical co ns tr a int s .
ii . It is imp r actica l to build a roa d due to th e s mall number of lot s
involved.
Liab ilit v
14.1 Where damage or ot h er t ypes of disturbance occ ur to the entr a nce due
to shou lde r g rad in g o r snowplow in g, th e Township s h a ll n ot b e held
li able for s uch damage s to paving s tones , su rface treatment , asp h alt
pavement, co n crete pavement, etc -o n the Township'S road a ll owance.
Wh er e a private la nd ow ner has co nstr uc t ed wo rk s o n t h e municipal
right of way, the town s hip m ay, at it s discretion remove or alter s uch
works i n the co ur se of m a intaining and /or improving the township road
sys tem .
. . ./5
Proper t y Entrance Policy By-lllW 08-049 -Page 5
14.2 Permission must be gra n ted from the Di rector of Public Works or
his /her des ignate prior to a property owner paving from his property
limits to the paved edged of the township road.
15. Fees & Deposits
15.1 Fees & depos i ts for entrance permits and inspections shall be as listed
in the "General Fees and Rates By-law"
16. Cancellation of entrance permit
16 .1 Where an entrance has not been constructed and accepted by th e Director
of Publ ic Wor ks or his/her designate w ithin six months of th e date of the
permit , then the permit shal! be nul! and void .
17. General
17.1 This by-law shal! come into force and take effect on the day it is passed.
17.2 T h is by-law shall be known and may be cited as the "Propeliy Entrance
Policy By -law July 08".
READ A FIRST AND SECOND TIME THIS 14'h DAY OF JULY 2008.
READ A THIRD TIME AND FINALLY PASSED THIS 11 "' DAY OF AUGUST
12008 .
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF
LEEDS AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS
~ ran n
anessa Latimer, Clerk