The Applicant had applied for an obtained a building permit to expand and refurbish an existing driveway, BLR2019-0563. The application for the building permit was approved by the zoning official with a width of approach of 20 feet in compliance with the LDC (see exhibit B, page 1). At the time of final inspection, the driveway approach was measured by the zoning official as 30 feet (see exhibit B, page 2). The applicant was advised that the driveway would have to be either modified to comply with LDC or an after-the-fact variance be obtained approving the as-built configuration.
As per the LDC, the maximum allowable width of an individual driveway, or leg of a driveway in the case of a circular driveway, is 20 feet. If two driveways or a circular driveway are proposed for a single property, then the two legs must add up to 30 feet; in other words, the LDC allows either one 20-foot leg and one 10-foot leg, or two 15-foot legs or any combination in between. The reason for this limitation is to minimize the length of sidewalk or right-of-way that the driveway and approach cut through, therefore limiting the length of possible interaction between pedestrians and vehicles entering or exiting the property, as well as between vehicles already on the right-of-way and those exiting the property. In addition, this limitation prevents the creation of continuous curb-cuts from setback to setback and provides for landscaped areas near the sidewalk and right-of-way.