Driveway length too short?

[2ltime]

Hi Folks,

Long time lurker between here and Jalopy. Usually interested in buying old tools but today I had a question about buying a house with a short driveway.

So I am looking to purchase a house, I like most things about it, and it's a corner lot. Garage is on the street without the front door (Technically the backyard) and the driveway is also on that side street, its a straight run of cement.

2.5 car garage, 2 car wide driveway/skirt. Problem is the sidewalk setback/location.
The sidewalk splits the driveway, so it is road, ~15ft of driveway, ~3ft sidewalk, ~15ft driveway, garage.

My current daily driver is a late model town car, around 17 feet long, and my project vehicle is a long bed pickup, also about 17 feet. Garage will be used for basically rebuilding and maintaining my old truck.

I could park both in the garage, but I would like the option of backing one out to work on the other with more room. Winters also get cold enough that it would be nice to heat the garage/workshop and not have the daily opening and closing of the big door.

I guess my question is would this stop you from buying the house? Would you just park on a bit of an angle to avoid the sidewalk if you couldn't fit both cars in the garage? Wash the cars on that angle?

Snow in winters mean no street parking, not that I would want to with the way plows drive around here..

Not sure what to do... Get a smaller daily driver? Block the sidewalk?I guess I could park both cars in the middle, one in the garage and one in the driveway. Would be easy enough to walk around, but technically still overhangs the sidewalk. Not sure if anyone would care.

What would you do?
Thanks,
2ltime

 

[readhead]

Seems odd that there is 15' from the street to the sidewalk.

 

[2ltime]

Seems odd that there is 15' from the street to the sidewalk.

It is what they do on busy and wide roads around here. Long winters with lots of snow, you need an area to plow it onto. The road is wide enough for 4 lanes if it wasn't in the middle of a neighborhood.

 

[toolmiser]

How about contacting some local officials to see if parking partially across the sidewalk is a no-no. Show them a detailed diagram and tell them you are considering this house but have concerns. What's the worse they could say?

 

[readhead]

Sounds like a problem for what you want to do. I would keep looking.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Most new neighborhoods around here have a side walk right through the middle of the driveway. Big houses on small lots.

 

[teamextreme]

It's not like the walkway is "blocked", they would just have to scoot around your vehicle onto your driveway, correct? Think of it as an "S-curve" in the sidewalk. Of course the City and militant dog walkers might not view it that way.

 

[Bigblockyeti]

Keep looking, a short driveway bisected with a sidewalk wouldn't fly with me.

 

[2ltime]

Thanks for the replies. I agree it doesn't seem ideal, I'm generally a fan of a longer driveway but around here (and in my price range) it seems like long driveways go to single car garages, where as a 2.5 car almost always has a small driveway.

How about contacting some local officials to see if parking partially across the sidewalk is a no-no. Show them a detailed diagram and tell them you are considering this house but have concerns. What's the worse they could say?

I am certain that blocking it is a legal no-no, it's just a gamble of them actually caring. Might be worth it to see what they suggest, but I have a feeling it will be 'You cannot block it, park in the garage' or something to that extent.

It's not like the walkway is "blocked", they would just have to scoot around your vehicle onto your driveway, correct? Think of it as an "S-curve" in the sidewalk. Of course the City and militant dog walkers might not view it that way.

Exactly, one would never leave the cement. I'm sure a dog or two would do mark their territory on my bumper, but doesn't bother me. Just having to deal with this daily might get tiresome.

 

[mmb617]

I don't think I'd want that potential headache. Unless the house had something going for it that you wanted bad enough to balance out the problem.

You just know that sooner or later somebody would make a stink about you blocking the sidewalk. Some people have nothing better to do than find things like that to complain about.

 

[kjdhawkhill]

Around my town I see lots of creative parking across driveway width (usually on the street side of the sidewalk) to avoid blocking the sidewalk. A lot of people get one car in their two-car garage and the other outside.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mongo68]

I would walk. But this is garage journal! Build a new giant garage in the backyard!

 

[kjdhawkhill]

You just know that sooner or later somebody would make a stink about you blocking the sidewalk. Some people have nothing better to do than find things like that to complain about.

Sidewalks are for walking, not parking. People who think that a public right of way is their private parking lot are some kind of entitled.

I wouldn’t call it in if it was a now and then thing, or while a project was going on, but if my kids couldn’t walk to school because a someone routinely blocked the sidewalk with a car and snow was piled too high to walk in the tree lawn....

Now if his car is only blocking 1’ of a 4’ sidewalk, I would find something else to complain about, elsewhere. [emoji482]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hobbit]

For your garage use and vehicles I would pass on the house. It has a dysfunctional issue with that driveway setup and may be hard to re-sell.

 

[johnnyradiant]

Unless you had the right or privilege to park straddling the line in writing and that it could be grandfathered I'd be majorly tempted to keep on looking. Just because nobody cares today doesn't mean a new policy, employee or neighbour won't try and take it away tomorrow, and that wouldn't be worth my headache if I could avoid it now. Bureaucracy only gets bigger with more hoops not more lax.

 

[Stuart in MN]

My driveway is 10 feet long, from the garage to the alley. I like it, it's that much less to shovel in the winter. It is wide enough that I can park the car sideways, on the rare occasions it doesn't go directly into the garage.

 

[phule]

Any chance you have pictures? I've never lived in a area with sidewalks but I'm having a hard time. Visualizing it. Does the side walk run through the yard aswell? It would be a turn off for me just to have people strolling through my yard.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[cdestuck]

Even if they didn't bother you when parking over the sidewalk, I'd be one nervous guy having walkers or bicycle kids coming up to your vehicles and having to walk around them without some sort of damage/scratches

 

[Pluribus]

I've gotten a ticket for parking with my bumper encroaching into the sidewalk area before.

If you look at Youtube, you'll see people walking over, throwing stuff onto, kicking, and slapping cars that are blocking crosswalks. Consider that all of the above might happen, especially since you won't be there in the vehicles. Skip the house; it's not worth the aggravation or risk.

 

[Jazz1]

Parking on sidewalk will cause you problems even if its not a neighbour. Short driveways,,less snow to deal with.
I'm in a stinking cold area as well and never park in garage, just makes a mess with all the melting.Garage is just for working,,some playing.
Hot rod is in there to work on but even it is stored in a portable over the winter.

 

[Jazz1]

Parking on sidewalk will cause you problems even if its not a neighbour. Short driveways,,less snow to deal with.
I'm in a stinking cold area as well and never park in heated garage, just makes a mess with all the melting.Garage is just for working,,some playing.

 

[2ltime]

Thanks everyone!

I wouldn't want to block the sidewalk, but I would probably be tempted to just park in the middle so there is ample space to walk around. But even that isn't ideal, I just know that is what I would end up doing as opposed to parking sideways.


I will most likely pass on this particular house but it is an issue I see a lot around here, crazy sidewalk setbacks and small property's mean either alley style garages (hopefully with room to park next too so I can use it as a shop), narrow driveway next to the house (Truck isn't that wide but I don't like driveways right up against the neighbors) or this style-setup.

Never would have thought it was a major thing to consider when I began house shopping, garage space can be valuable but to use it like a shop, driveway space has to be there, too!

 

[HoosierMark]

No doubt in my mind, I would not buy it. Maybe not today but someday this could be a real issue and you end up with no driveway parking. It is one thing if you own the property and have no choice but why buy something that could be a future problem. If you are concerned any future buyer probably will be also and that will cost you in property value.

 

[finn]

Either get a smaller car, park in the garage or street (if legal), or don’t buy the house.

I despise inconsiderate people who park on the sidewalk.

 

[steveo1o9]

That's a pretty big design flaw to not allow you full use of your driveway. If it's common in your area then it's probably a dumb design requirement you City has. Typically the sidewalk is at the edge of the right of way, so does the city own a large portion of the lawn?

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

For those of us on this forum, who are pretty much all "car-guys" and garage people, a short driveway would be enough to make me look at another property to buy. It CAN'T be the only one in town that is on the market.

Also, I like to keep a neat and tidy yard, but I always have have something that temporarily I need to "hide" outdoors. The problem with a corner lot, is that there is no place to hide things. I had one, but will never again buy a house on a corner lot.




.

 

[Old Man Roger]

If it's the perfect house otherwise, is there room to make a circular driveway? Physically and financially.

 

[sennister]

I would hold out of a house with the sidewalk on the other side of the street. That way you don't have to mess with clearing it. Nothing like being on vacation, it snows and you get ticketed.

Also another thing to watch is how much snow do you normally get. We had a bit more than average this year and a lot of people were running out of places to put the snow. Short and wide driveways complicate this more because you less yard to move the snow to.

 

[2ltime]

Typically the sidewalk is at the edge of the right of way, so does the city own a large portion of the lawn?

Yes, the city owns from the sidewalk down to the road, which on a shallow lot can mean easily 1/4 of the property. Whole width is only 50~ish feet, and they own ~18-20. Small yards but I am a single man, no pets. I don't really want to be maintaining acres.

Yeah Finn I also don't want to block the sidewalk, I may be a car guy but I also like to walk around my neighborhood, go to stores, parks, friends, so I am just trying to gauge what you all would do.

LifeLong that is a good point, but this yard has a large privacy fence for that stuff

Roger that was my first thought too, but there isn't. But I could put a driveway on the other street's side, it would just mean basically no front yard.

All good points about resale. I wouldn't want to be in this home more then 5-10 years, so that is something I need to consider.

The biggest selling point to me is the 2.5 car garage, already setup to do work in. The issue is the driveway, which I *now realize needs to compliment the garage to some level. If nothing else it would be nice to wash the cars in the driveway and not be blocking the sidewalk.

I would love to show a photo of the garage/driveway/sidewalk but as the home is still for sale I wouldn't want to do that to a seller. No reason for a potential owner to read the reasons another one didn't make an offer.

 

[jimindm]

If the driveway is sort of flat, why not make the sidewalk in the yard widen out to say six or eight feet.

Are there rules about where the sidewalk is? I am sure the sidewalk has rules about how much it falls one way or the other, but if the driveway would be within that spec, just widen the sidewalk.

Thinking about it I would guess there is likely nothing about how the ROW in your property is dealt with. As long as it is open for the city. If the drive does have a slope to it, route the sidewalk seven or eight feet into the ROW and cut the drive to have acceptable falls for a sidewalk.

 

[steveo1o9]

All good points about resale. I wouldn't want to be in this home more then 5-10 years, so that is something I need to consider.

The biggest selling point to me is the 2.5 car garage, already setup to do work in. The issue is the driveway, which I *now realize needs to compliment the garage to some level. If nothing else it would be nice to wash the cars in the driveway and not be blocking the sidewalk.

I'm not sure I would be worried about the resale, most people wouldn't even notice this issue until its too late, or would actually use the garage for cars unlike the majority of us here. If they whole neighborhood is laid out this way then no body else minded.

You just fall into the small group of people that want the garage as a workshop and have two large vehicles. Sounds like with the size of your vehicles at least one would need to be in the garage at all times. So if the garage is the selling point but it will need to be filled with your vehicles it will not leave you enough room to do the work you want. So the only selling point is greatly diminished. It may not be the one for you, unless you don't mind being the neighborhood *** who constantly blocks the sidewalk.

 

[2ltime]

If the driveway is sort of flat, why not make the sidewalk in the yard widen out to say six or eight feet.

Are there rules about where the sidewalk is? I am sure the sidewalk has rules about how much it falls one way or the other, but if the driveway would be within that spec, just widen the sidewalk.

Thinking about it I would guess there is likely nothing about how the ROW in your property is dealt with. As long as it is open for the city. If the drive does have a slope to it, route the sidewalk seven or eight feet into the ROW and cut the drive to have acceptable falls for a sidewalk.

The rules are setback from the street and minimum width, so I could make it wider by bringing it closer to the house a few feet, and then park on the street side, but that would be goofy and also **** with the snow. But it's doable, just not sure if I would want to.


Good point about resale, I am sure my concerns do not reflect the average home shopper. I am going to look at the house with my realtor tomorrow morning, ill report back here if I like it enough and can imagine dealing with the setback. I have considered going to a smaller daily driver for other reasons, but that still leaves the long truck

 

[Farmall450]

How about contacting some local officials to see if parking partially across the sidewalk is a no-no. Show them a detailed diagram and tell them you are considering this house but have concerns. What's the worse they could say?

Better hope it's in writing.

 

[jimindm]

If the sidewalk has to go to the setback, is there any rules about how wide the sidewalk can be. If the driveway is flat, and you could have a 6-7 foot wide sidewalk, why couldn't you sort of widen it out at the driveway.

If the rules are no blocking the sidewalk, and the sidewalk has to be to the house side of the ROW, is there anything about how wide the sidewalk is? With out a picture it is hard to say if it would work. If the 15 foot approach of your driveway is flat enough, why couldn't you widen the sidewalk.

 

[Stuart in MN]

From his description, the house, garage, driveway and sidewalk are all existing - there's no changing them now (especially the sidewalk, since it's City property.)

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

I was thinking about this today, and remembered the following: Around here, roads are called "2 rod roads", or "2 1/2 rod roads", etc., depending on the right of way that the town/city/state took when legally taking the road. ( a rod is 16.5 feet ) That is the overall width of the road, and your property begins at the end of the right of way. Your deed, or a tape map, may state the legal width of the road.

Technically, the local jurisdiction "owns" everything in the right of way, although the amount of enforcement may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and often from compliance officer to compliance officer, even in the same entity. Also, the level of enforcement may change dramatically, if you tick off the enforcement officer. ALWAYS be polite when dealing with them, no matter how mad you may be.

Many towns around here don't worry about parking in the right of way, as long as (1) people can still pass by, if there is a sidewalk, (2) there is adequate room for the highway boys to pile the snow and (3) no one complains.




.

 

[Viper98912]

I personally wouldn't do it. This sounds like you're in a neighborhood; you want to widen your driveway? Good luck getting that approved.

I would personally pass on the house. It just doesn't work for your needs.

That's the tough part about shopping for a house - there is nearly nothing out there that will fit exactly what you want. Lot size, driveway size, garage size, house layout, age, PRICE, colors, features, neighborhood, neighbors, area, nearby amenities, and the list goes on and on.

Welcome to never truly being happy with a home.

 

[logical]

Sidewalks are for walking, not parking....
I would find something else to complain about, elsewhere. [emoji482]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I suspect you would.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[ybnormal70]

Then one day someone in a wheelchair tries to go by on the sidewalk and that is where the fun would start. I would keep looking....

Kevin

 

[Notgrownup]

For me the driveway would have to be at least the length of a truck and room to get around it front and back easily.