Eug
Senior Member
According to Toronto city bylaws, semis and detached homes are allowed second suites, aka basement apartments or granny suites, etc.
To become a second suite, they must meet fire, building, and electrical code requirements, and must have a bathroom and kitchen, etc. You just have to get the appropriate inspections, and declare it as a second suite to the city (with I believe a $150 application fee). Ok fine. I wanted to add a stove to the basement, but for personal use, not as a basement apartment. I'm not Jewish, but it would be akin to the second kitchen that Jewish families and Italian families often have. Nope. That's illegal, according to Toronto zoning by-laws.
So, it's legal to have a basement apartment and that requires a kitchen, but it's illegal to have a basement with a second stove. To make it legal you actually have to declare it a multi-dwelling unit (which can impact your property taxes and will impact your home insurance), even if you want to just use it yourself for personal or religious reasons. Or you can apply to the city for a zoning variance to legally keep it a single-family home, for a $700 application fee, with no guarantee that zoning variance will be approved.
I fully understand the need for permits, which is why I'm going through all this process to do everything legally, but I'm beginning to feel more sympathy for the contractors and homeowners that try to avoid dealing with permits for certain stuff.
To become a second suite, they must meet fire, building, and electrical code requirements, and must have a bathroom and kitchen, etc. You just have to get the appropriate inspections, and declare it as a second suite to the city (with I believe a $150 application fee). Ok fine. I wanted to add a stove to the basement, but for personal use, not as a basement apartment. I'm not Jewish, but it would be akin to the second kitchen that Jewish families and Italian families often have. Nope. That's illegal, according to Toronto zoning by-laws.
So, it's legal to have a basement apartment and that requires a kitchen, but it's illegal to have a basement with a second stove. To make it legal you actually have to declare it a multi-dwelling unit (which can impact your property taxes and will impact your home insurance), even if you want to just use it yourself for personal or religious reasons. Or you can apply to the city for a zoning variance to legally keep it a single-family home, for a $700 application fee, with no guarantee that zoning variance will be approved.
I fully understand the need for permits, which is why I'm going through all this process to do everything legally, but I'm beginning to feel more sympathy for the contractors and homeowners that try to avoid dealing with permits for certain stuff.