The parts we had to learn to build this.
Garden suites, laneway suites and what a Toronto lot actually permits. Long enough to be useful, short enough to read before a site visit.
4 written, 5 on the way.
The homeowner questions come first because that is what people search for. Where a guide is still an outline, it says so rather than linking you somewhere empty.
- Read it8 min read
- Read it7 min read
- Read it9 min read
- Read it11 min read
“The zone says RD. What does that actually let me do?”
How to read a Toronto zoning by-lawWhat a zone label carries, where the numbers behind it live, and why the exceptions attached to a specific property matter more than the label.
Planned9 min read“How much weight can I put on this number?”
As-of-right, and everything past itThe four evidence grades, what each commits the City to, and how to tell a figure you can take to a lender from one you can only take to a napkin.
Planned6 min read“Six layers came back. Which of them can stop me?”
What each constraint layer decidesHeritage, conservation, rental replacement, archaeology, secondary plans and park shadow, one at a time: what each governs and what it costs when it fires.
Planned12 min read“I am close but not quite inside the by-law. Now what?”
Minor variances and the Committee of AdjustmentWhat the Committee decides, what counts as minor, and how nearby approvals change the argument you can make.
Planned8 min read“Is this site worth more with the one next door?”
The arithmetic of a land assemblyHow combining parcels changes what an envelope can carry, the gates an assembly has to pass, and the questions geometry cannot answer for you.
Planned9 min read