Driveway layout, how much space for garage aproach?

[sparky67]

I am trying to design a driveway that will minimize the amount of asphalt. I am running up against my maximum lot coverage requirement. Basically what I dont know is how much area do I need right in front of the garage door. Its a 32' wide garage with 3 doors 9' wide. I want to know how fast I can neck the driveway down to a 10 wide approach lined up with the center door. Right now I have it laid out to be the full 32' width for the first 20' from the garage door and then narrowed down to 10' in the next 20'. Wondering if I really need that much. I would lay it out and try driving it but there is more then a foot of snow on the ground right now.

 

[boiler7904]

I would want a full width for more than 20 ft of driveway length. 20 ft is a standard parking stall depth and to me not enough for a driveway. Either that or use a 16-20 ft width for the approach drive.

Trying it in the snow would let you see your tire tracks and visualize exactly how much space you really need / want as long as you have four or all wheel drive.

 

[jmlcolorado]

What do you drive and what will be going into the stalls?
Any trailers stored?
How many people with vehicles are going to be parked at home at one time?
Any on street parking for guests?

 

[sparky67]

What do you drive and what will be going into the stalls??

A mustang, Minivan, Extended cab 1/2 ton pickup with 6' bed.

Any trailers stored?
How many people with vehicles are going to be parked at home at one time?
Any on street parking for guests?

No trailers and there is plenty of other places for guests to park I dont expect to ever need parking right in front of the garage. If I do park in front of the garage it would be 1 car I am working on. I have no problem driving over the grass once in a while but I dont want to have to drive on it every time to get in and out to the point the tracks turn into mud puddles.

 

[volleyball]

There are ways of having a driveway without asphalt. You can use gravel, you can use those plastic grids that you add soil and grass to. It is grass and you can drive over it without those ruts.
Do you have road access limitations? I know I need a state permit to access the road in front of my house.

 

[sparky67]

20' will cause three point turns.

Maybe I should clarify. I dont intend to be able to do a u-turn in the space.

The garage is located ~ 60' from my main driveway which is ~40' long. A picture would help.

Center garage door is no problem. I'll back straight out and down. The end stalls I need enough room to get from the narrow part to being lined up with the door.

 

[ducktapeguy]

How good are your driving skills?

I have a very similar layout, except my driveway is lined up on the right. I'd leave enough room to be able to park the largest car in front of the center garage and still be able to drive the ones on the side out easily (either pulled in forward or reverse) then add another 3-5 feet or so for good measure because not everyone has awesome reverse driving skills. But then I actually do park all my cars in front of the garage, that's why I need the space. Since your driveway is pretty long and narrow, It would also be nice to have enough room to turn around in the driveway in a few turns without having to Austin powers it.

 

[volleyball]

Is your problem that you are maxed out on the percentage of the property is developed? So a full width driveway would put you over ? Can you get a variance?

 

[sparky67]

Is your problem that you are maxed out on the percentage of the property is developed? So a full width driveway would put you over ? Can you get a variance?

That is the problem. Running up against the maximum lot coverage number and I have a few more developments I want to make in a few years. I already need a variance the way it is. I figure the least amount of variances I need the higher the likelihood of getting a variance. Water run off his a big concern around here because of flooding so my guess is that getting a variance for lot coverage is going to be difficult. I asked the zoning officer if a gravel driveway counts as lot coverage. Waiting for a response hopefully the answer is no because that will help a lot.

 

[JakeKohl]

How about getting creative with the driveway itself. Perhaps pour the drive up to the garage in two strips for the tires to save a little "coverage" or some of those grass growing pavers might not even count at all:

 

[Bsj04]

I've got kind of the same set up planned out due to a tree the wire wants to keep. 20' in front of the doors seems fine but I'm going to strech the taper to 30'. I put out flags and tried both, the 20' taper would "work" but kind of a pain in the ****. Stretching it out to 30 makes it easier. I was using my full size 4 door short bed truck.

 

[Bsj04]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jlckmj]

I laid out my approach to my garage by driving up to it with my largest vehicle. I looked at the swing needed to make the turn into the garage and added 2 foot onto that width for opening the door and walking away if I parked in front of the door.
Jim

 

[sands35]

I'd suggest curving it a bit around the corner of the house. You'll want a bush or something to warn you if you are going to hit the house.

Are you going to need to clear snow and get a car into the garage in the winter? That might inform your decision on the type of surface you pick.

 

[nolimits76]

What is the small building located on the back of the house used for? It looks like a storage building possibly, and if so I could see how having pavement to that point would be nice.

Here is how I would consider doing it. The "small" spot of grass between the red line and the house I would probably landscape in so I didn't have to mow there.

 

[Pluribus]

That is the problem. Running up against the maximum lot coverage number and I have a few more developments I want to make in a few years. I already need a variance the way it is. I figure the least amount of variances I need the higher the likelihood of getting a variance. Water run off his a big concern around here because of flooding so my guess is that getting a variance for lot coverage is going to be difficult. I asked the zoning officer if a gravel driveway counts as lot coverage. Waiting for a response hopefully the answer is no because that will help a lot.

I'd be surprised if you can get away with gravel not counting as impermeable surface; it counts toward the total here in Western WA. JakeKohl's grid pavers with grass growing through the voids seem like something that would more likely get approval. Granted, it's not as clean as asphalt or concrete, but at least you'd get a fairly solid surface. Downside is that you'll probably bring some of the grass, etc. into the garage on your tires.

Not sure how your AHJ is structured, but if you get shot down on the gravel option, ask the zoning officer if they know what types of hard permeable surfaces are allowed. You may have to talk to another person who specializes in green building/remodeling, and they should know who in their department handles that. Good luck!

 

[volleyball]

Gravel doesn't count in my jurisdiction. That paver/ grass thing is more likely to be considered pavement. And oyu would want steppables, not grass in there.
The item I mentioned doesn't look as obvious and uses the same grass as the surrounding area.

 

[sparky67]

What is the small building located on the back of the house used for? It looks like a storage building possibly, and if so I could see how having pavement to that point would be nice.

Here is how I would consider doing it. The "small" spot of grass between the red line and the house I would probably landscape in so I didn't have to mow there.

The building is a shed and the doors are on the other side so no need to connect it to the driveway. Your plan is very similar to what i started with but turns out its too much area.

I'd suggest curving it a bit around the corner of the house. You'll want a bush or something to warn you if you are going to hit the house.

Are you going to need to clear snow and get a car into the garage in the winter? That might inform your decision on the type of surface you pick.

I would be using the garage attached to the house to park the daily driver. But I would need to clear the snow to the garage just in case. How do those grass covered drives work with clearing snow? Seems like it would drain well and keep ice from forming but I dont have any first hand experience.

 

[RickP]

I want to know how fast I can neck the driveway down to a 10 wide approach lined up with the center door. Right now I have it laid out to be the full 32' width for the first 20' from the garage door and then narrowed down to 10' in the next 20'.

I'd extend the neck, but you might be able to save a little area by shortening the full width section, especially if you don't need to park in front of the side bays. Something like this: the full 32' width for the first 10' from the garage door and then narrowed down to 10' in the next 40'.

Also, for the long driveway section, you could pave two strips for the tires and leave it grass in between.