Clay Lee
Broker/Realtor®
Read my blog below
How Much Driveway Can You Have in College Station?
July 15th, 2008 Categories: Buying Real Estate, Home Improvement & Design, Market Trends
Maybe I’m the last one to know, but the City of College Station is pretty strict now on where one can have a driveway, how wide it can be, and how many openings one can have out of it’s property.
I recently sold a property that has no street parking in front of it or on the side of it. The only parking you have is for two cars in the driveway and for two cars in the garage. My client asked me to check in to getting him a permit to pave a wider opening so that he could have driveway parking for at lest 6 cars. This would have been considered “head in” parking which basically means that a drivr would have to back out onto the street instead of entering it in a forward direction.
After approaching the city, I have found that they city code does not allow for more then 25 feet of curb cut from ones property onto the street! The normal 2 car garage is 22 feet wide so this doesn’t leave much space for more parking. To get exceptions to this, you have to file for a variance with the city in order to get more curb cuts. The problem is, they don’t like to give the variance in the first place, and secondly they don’t want to give it to addition “head in” style parking. They usually like to give it to circular type driveways that have an opening for entering and leaving.
If you want something different, it’s best to schedule a meeting with Carol Cotter at the City of College Station’s planning and development department. Turn in a plat of what you have and what you are doing along with an application. She will then review it in person and with city staff. In a couple of days they will get back to you with an answer. Unfortunately there isn’t a “set in stone” set of principles they follow. It’s all pretty much up to their discretion and view of how the design will affect saftey and traffic concerns. I’d recomend having a pretty good case in place if you are looking for something that may be questionable.
The best advice I can give is design your home with lots of extra driveway space and room to turn around on the property and get the plan approved before constructing your new home. This work up front will ensure that your property and home design work for your lifestyle.
If you need any help or suggestions or have questions, please feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com.
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