In this blog entry, I will be reviewing the basics of your property by referring to the information found within your  Real Property Report.  By learning these basics, you will be able to understand the design guidelines outlined in the City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw. Following these rules will help you create a space-planned design for your lot.

Let’s get started.

First, we should learn real property reports versus surveyed site plans. A real property report is a form of “site plan” that provides you with a summary of your property, whereas a survey offers a very detailed description. The information a surveyed site plan would provide apart from an RPR would be the establishment of all utilities, trees or larger plant life, geodetic elevations, and neighboring properties. The site plan becomes more of a critical player in the development permit application process. The summarized information found within an RPR will be sufficient enough for you to navigate through the general guidelines. Once you have settled on your design, you can then look at hiring a surveyor for a detailed site plan

Do you know the zoning for your property? You will need to know the zoning of your property to space plan your development correctly. For example, knowing your zoning will affect the restrictions on your building development, such as the lot coverage.

 To figure out your zoning, go to the City of Calgary website www.calgary.ca, then click on the “Building, Planning, and Business”,  then scroll down to click on “MyProperty.”

Here is the link: https://maps.calgary.ca/MyProperty/?redirect=/myproperty

For this portion, I will create an RPR and classify it is an RC1. RC1 lots are prevalent in Calgary; therefore, it will be easier for you to understand.

Do you know your max lot coverage, and do you know how it can be affected? Lot coverage or “Parcel” coverage is the ratio between the area of your property and the accumulated area of all structures. However, if there is an accessory building with the square footage of less than 10.0 square meters (107 square feet), it will not be tallied into the total. For example, because tool sheds are small, they aren’t included in our lot coverage. The lot coverage in our case is 45%.

 Find out what are your property’s minimal setback requirements. Once realizing your zoning classification, immediately turn to the land use bylaw, and read carefully through the zoning and minimum setback requirements. If you are not sure, always ask a professional or call the City of Calgary at 403 268 5311, or go online at www.calgary.ca, and chat with a planner at the front desk.

If you want to take a look, please see the website link: https://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/Calgary-Land-Use-bylaw-1P2007/Land-Use-Bylaw-Land-Use-Districts.aspx

To explain how setbacks work, I’m going to use my pretend lot that is a “Residential Contextual 1” or RC1. The term “contextual” is the city of Calgary’s requirements to maintain a level of esthetic “consistency” to a typical block, by referring to the position of the house in correlation with the neighboring houses. For example, imagine a line is running in front of everybody’s house on a typical block; the city will note how close everyone’s home is to that line. Therefore, any new development will be subject to the location of everyone on that line, only permitting a slight adjustment to move the block more forward gradually.

Let’s take a moment and say I want to build a brand-new home. I would need to figure out where on the lot will the new house be located? Thus, I would be incorporating these rules from the land use bylaw to help me space-plan my development.

Let’s start with the front minimum setback. The minimum front setback is:

“the minimum building setback from a front property line is the greater of

(a)    the contextual front setback less 1.5m or

(b)    to the minimum of 3.0 meters. “

The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 3: Residential – Contextual One Dwelling (R-C1) (R-C1s) District /Section 396 (1)/http://lub.calgary.ca/ /Accessed Nov 24, 2019

This excerpt is stating that to establish the location of my brand-new residential building, I must look at the front of my structure relative to the front of my neighboring building’s position; however I am allowed to move the house up to 5 feet maximum or to the minimum of 3.0 meters from the front property line. Therefore, if the current home is 20 feet from the front property line (approximately the length of a driveway) just like my neighbors, then the new building’s position would be allowed to be 15 feet from the property line.

“For an addition or exterior alteration to a single detached dwelling, which was legally existing or approved prior to the effective date of this Bylaw, the minimum building setback from a front property line is the lesser of:

(a)    the contextual front setback less 1.5 meters to a minimum of 3.0 meters; or

(b)    the existing building setback less 1.5 meters to a minimum of 3.0 meters.”

The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 3: Residential – Contextual One Dwelling (R-C1) (R-C1s) District/Section 396 (4)”//http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

Next, we look at the side portions of our lot. The side portions are referred to as the “side yard”.

“For a laned parcel, the minimum building setback from any side property line is 1.2 meters.”

“For a lanless parcel, the minimum building setback from any side property line is:

(a)    1.2 meters; or

(b)    3.0 meters on one side of the parcel when no provision has been made for a private garage on the front, or the side of the building.”

  The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/ PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 3: Residential – Contextual One Dwelling (R-C1) (R-C1s) District/Section 397(1) and (2)/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

The minimum setback for the side yard of your house is 1.2 meters or 4 feet. The term “laned,” means you have an access road behind your home, and “laneless” means the rear of your property abuts another person’s yard. If you are on a corner lot, the side yard that is adjacent to the street needs to be a minimum of 3.0 meters from the side property line. Please note there are variations of setback rules for corner lots; therefore, consult with your designer or the City of Calgary.

Lastly, we now look at the rear of our property. “The minimum building setback from a rear property line is 7.5 meters.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 3: Residential – Contextual One Dwelling (R-C1) (R-C1s) District/Section 398/http://lub.calgary.ca/Accessed Nov 24, 2019

The rear setback of your house is a measurement from the rear property line to the rear facade of the main building.

The rear setback of your house is a measurement from the rear property line to the rear facade of the main building.

So far, we have the main building covered, which is great if we are looking to build a secondary suite. A secondary suite doesn’t require a lot of criteria that dramatically effects the surrounding area of our property, because the suite is in the basement. Therefore, we would look at our RPR to decide:

·       Where will the tenant park on our property?

·       Where will the tenant go-to hang out outside?

·       Will the tenant have a separate entrance (if necessary)?

·       Where will we place the tenant’s bedroom window well?

·       Or where is the tenant’s electrical meter?

 By looking at the RPR, we can take a pen and designate these areas. If we like what we see, we can then move on with our development. But a backyard suite is a little different.

Do you know what an accessory residential building is? An accessory residential building is a structure that is not attached to the main building within the property. A typical example is a detached garage.  Backyard suites are dwellings that are either attached to a garage or could be an entire structure on their own, therefore, when I give the setbacks for the accessory building, I will be focusing on the backyard suite rules.

 We have just confirmed what front, side, and rear setbacks are. Now, we need to understand how they correlate to an accessory building. Our first question should be what the minimum distance between the main house and the backyard suite is? This measurement is a very crucial restriction. According to the City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw,

“Unless otherwise referenced in subsections (3.1) and (3.2), a minimum separation of 5.0 meters is required between the closet façade of the main residential building to the closet façade of the backyard suite.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/ PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

The 5.0 meter measurement is critical because it will determine the overall design of your structure. However, it will influence your decision on selecting a lot for your future development. But, for this exercise, we are focusing on the rules, not strategies.

The front setback for the suite is a measurement from the façade of the building to the rear of the property line. That doesn’t mean your suite will be accessible from the rear. Remember, backyard suites can be constructed on various lots throughout the city.

“For a backyard suite, the minimum building setback from a rear property line is

(a)    1.5 meters for any portions of the building used as a backyard suite; and

(b)    0.6 meters for any portions of the building used as a private garage”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352 (1)/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

As a result, we need to be aware our backyard suite is to be a minimum of 1.5 meters from the rear property line. If we choose to have the suite on top of the garage, then the suite would still be subject to the first rule. However, the garage portion is allowed to be 0.6 meters or 2 feet to the rear property line.

Like the main house, the backyard suite is subject to a minimum side yard setback.

“Unless otherwise specified in the district, for a backyard suite, the minimum building setback from the side property line is 1.2 meters for any portions of the building used as a backyard suite.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/ “PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/ Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352 (2)/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

Our side yard setback for our backyard suite is the same as our main building. Whereas a detached garage has more relaxed rules when it comes to side yard setbacks, but please contact the City of Calgary, or myself for more clarification.

The gross floor area is the perimeter of the building or building outline. The City of Calgary has set a limitation to the amount of space a garage can occupy.

“The maximum floor area of a backyard suite, excluding any area covered by stairways and internal landings not exceeding 2.5 square meters, is 75.0 square meters.”

“The maximum floor area of a backyard suite may be relaxed by the development authority to a maximum of 10.0 per cent. the Therefore, the maximum gross floor area of the garage suite is to be 75.0m2 or 807 square feet.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352 (5) and (6)/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

Please note, you need to provide a space for your tenants outside, this space can either be within your yard or on their premises. The bylaw calls this space an amenity space.

 “A Backyard Suite must have a private amenity space that:

(a)       is located outdoors; and

(b)       has a minimum area of 7.5 square meters with no dimension less than 1.5 meters.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352 (7)//http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

For backyard suites, I feel it is common to have a balcony for the amenity space for our tenant. However, if it is possible, we can designate an area within the yard.

“Elliott, we are looking to build a deck with a roof. Is there anything we need to know?” YES!

 “Awnings, balconies, bay windows, canopies, chimneys, decks, eaves, fireplaces, fire escapes, landings, porches, and ramps other than wheelchair ramps may project a maximum of 1.5 meters into any rear setback area.”

 The City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw 1P2007/PART 5: LOW DENSITY RSIDENTIAL DISTRCTS/Division 1: General Rules for Low Density Land Use Districts/Section 352 (7)/http://lub.calgary.ca//Accessed Nov 24, 2019

These forms of projections can extend out to a maximum of 6.0 meters from the rear property line. Please remember that a covered deck could count towards your lot coverage. Make sure to check your design with the City of Calgary to confirm you meet the exemption requirements when it comes to the parcel coverage.

That’s it for now, next week we will look more into site plans regarding utility right of ways, geodetic elevations, and drainage.