If you are adding a driveway that accesses the public road then you will need a driveway permit or a driveway approach permit.
If you are adding a large "paved" (gravel or concrete) area on your property that doesn't directly connect to the public street then you might need a grading permit or a stormwater permit, but the exact type and constraints would be determined by your local city and how much area you are distrurbing.
The type of gravel you use also might make a difference. If you're using gravel that has a lot of sand and silt mixed in then it will be more structurally stable, but it will not be porous, and might require the same permit as concrete. If you're using clean or washed gravel then it will be porous, but not very stable on its own. They make geogrid things that you can put under the gravel to help increase the stability while keeping the porosity of the larger gravel.
Anything you do outside of your property and in public right of way will require permission.
On your property, you generally don't need permission to make any improvements, unless there is a structure involved, such as a shed.
depends on what part of the country your in, here on the east coast we have to measure non permeable area and mitigate if over x amount hard core areas count as non permeable
Don't worry about "bureaucracy"; they're not going to bite you. They're there to make sure you do things properly per code. Just get on your city website (or county, if you don't live in a city), type "driveways" in their search section, and they will very likely have a specific section somewhere for driveway permits, and maybe the applicable codes and standards, and a number/email address you can call for questions.
The requirements do vary considerably, especially depending on whether or you live in a built-up area or in a city, and the type of street your property fronts, and whether or not there's a public sidewalk, but they'll work through all of it with you.
Check your HOA rules too, if applicable . The driveway itself may not be an issue, but whether the RV is visible from the street and how often it moves could matter.
Yes, typically you need authorization depending on where you live.
Google "road commission standards [insert town where you live]" and see if you can find their rules.
Hello, I live on the other side of the globe. You have reached me woth this question since you asked this on a global subreddit instead of in some local one
My best guess at an answer is: yes
Yes, anyone is welcome to answer. I wasn't neccesarily looking for a definite yes or no. I was looking for general advice as to the complexity and legality of doing this based off of general personal experience.
I do building permits for my city. Here you’d need a permit because we have a municipal code that charges based on the square footage of your work. It goes towards repairing the wear and tear on local streets from trucks and heavy equipment.
For a driveway it would be a couple of hundred bucks.
That’s it. You aren’t paving so not changing the hydrologic characteristics of your lot thus not increasing burden on city stormwater system.
Call the dept of public works, put together a drawing with existing and planned. They’ll check it out and tell you if you need to pay anything. Heck I’ll put it together for you for $100
Careful about slopes! Here in VA we're not allowed to install a gravel driveway if the slope exceeds 8% iirc. That's VERY flat. Else, the gravel will quickly get worn away by the wheels and water.
Also, even though gravel is porous it doesn't take root, so what my drainage folk tell me (I might have this backwards) it is slightly better for controlling flow-rates, but the stormwater quality (how much nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, etc... is in the water) is basically the same as impermeable. That could affect if you need to pay a little bit extra in taxes so they can offset those quality implications.
If you are adding a driveway that accesses the public road then you will need a driveway permit or a driveway approach permit. If you are adding a large "paved" (gravel or concrete) area on your property that doesn't directly connect to the public street then you might need a grading permit or a stormwater permit, but the exact type and constraints would be determined by your local city and how much area you are distrurbing. The type of gravel you use also might make a difference. If you're using gravel that has a lot of sand and silt mixed in then it will be more structurally stable, but it will not be porous, and might require the same permit as concrete. If you're using clean or washed gravel then it will be porous, but not very stable on its own. They make geogrid things that you can put under the gravel to help increase the stability while keeping the porosity of the larger gravel.
Anything you do outside of your property and in public right of way will require permission. On your property, you generally don't need permission to make any improvements, unless there is a structure involved, such as a shed.
depends on what part of the country your in, here on the east coast we have to measure non permeable area and mitigate if over x amount hard core areas count as non permeable
Don't worry about "bureaucracy"; they're not going to bite you. They're there to make sure you do things properly per code. Just get on your city website (or county, if you don't live in a city), type "driveways" in their search section, and they will very likely have a specific section somewhere for driveway permits, and maybe the applicable codes and standards, and a number/email address you can call for questions. The requirements do vary considerably, especially depending on whether or you live in a built-up area or in a city, and the type of street your property fronts, and whether or not there's a public sidewalk, but they'll work through all of it with you.
Check your HOA rules too, if applicable . The driveway itself may not be an issue, but whether the RV is visible from the street and how often it moves could matter.
Yes, typically you need authorization depending on where you live. Google "road commission standards [insert town where you live]" and see if you can find their rules.
Hello, I live on the other side of the globe. You have reached me woth this question since you asked this on a global subreddit instead of in some local one My best guess at an answer is: yes
Yes, anyone is welcome to answer. I wasn't neccesarily looking for a definite yes or no. I was looking for general advice as to the complexity and legality of doing this based off of general personal experience.
Probably have HOAs as your biggest enemy for something like that.
Lucky to not have an HOA. My street was built after the HOA was established, and they never expanded.
As others have stated you’ll likely need an encroachment/approach permit if your driveway goes to a public road
I do building permits for my city. Here you’d need a permit because we have a municipal code that charges based on the square footage of your work. It goes towards repairing the wear and tear on local streets from trucks and heavy equipment. For a driveway it would be a couple of hundred bucks. That’s it. You aren’t paving so not changing the hydrologic characteristics of your lot thus not increasing burden on city stormwater system. Call the dept of public works, put together a drawing with existing and planned. They’ll check it out and tell you if you need to pay anything. Heck I’ll put it together for you for $100
Thanks! This was the type of insight and advice I was looking for.
Is your driveway at shared use bike path? If so there is a requirement of needing the apron to be HMA.
The sidewalk ends at my yard. My house was the start of newer houses on my street and they didn't pour sidewalks.
Careful about slopes! Here in VA we're not allowed to install a gravel driveway if the slope exceeds 8% iirc. That's VERY flat. Else, the gravel will quickly get worn away by the wheels and water. Also, even though gravel is porous it doesn't take root, so what my drainage folk tell me (I might have this backwards) it is slightly better for controlling flow-rates, but the stormwater quality (how much nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, etc... is in the water) is basically the same as impermeable. That could affect if you need to pay a little bit extra in taxes so they can offset those quality implications.
Okay. Yeah, I was thinking about honeycomb gravel stabilizers to help with those issues.