New Toronto Pool Bylaw

This past year I have had a few questions posed to me about a new Bylaw in effect for the City of Toronto in regards to pools. The questions are about pools being fenced in from all 4 sides of the yard by an enclosure between the house wall and the pool itself. Basically, in my previous article I outlined my adventure on trying to find what the bylaws are for the City of Toronto. Not a very fun adventure!

So, for this article I decided to display a couple of diagrams to help illustrate the new bylaw....


Under the old bylaws, the above diagram displays what was acceptable (bylaw compliant) as a typical pool layout for the City of Toronto and is still acceptable for most areas outside of Toronto. The diagram shows the pool location in relation to the property line and must meet certain setbacks (the minimum distance allowed for a pool to be built from the property line). In Toronto the setback is 4 feet from the property line and in other areas of the GTA the pool must be 5 feet from the property line.

There must also be a fence enclosure set in all around your backyard with self-closing/self-locking gates. The fence itself must be built at a regulated height... which for a Toronto single residential property is 1.2 meters or 4 feet high. Any door leading from the home to the enclosed pool area in the yard must have child safety locks installed as well (no longer acceptable in Toronto). Garage doors leading into the enclosed pool area must also comply with child safety locks and a self-closing device.

The new City of Toronto pool bylaw explained...


Basically, the above diagram displays what all the hype is about... as it was previously acceptable for you to have a pool enclosed on 3 sides of your yard by a fence and self closing gates with the home acting as your fourth side to the enclosure... you now have to incorporate an enclosure (fence with self-closing gate) that stands between the pool area and the back wall of your home...connected to the other fence enclosures to form a complete square. The only way to get around this bylaw is to simply not have a door that opens or allows you access from your house into your backyard within the enclosed pool area.

For that matter... windows that open into the enclosed area must also have locks that prevent the window from being opened more than 10 cm or 4 inches.

So...where does that leave you? If bricking in sliding glass doors that lead into your yard is not an option... then you must come up with a way to provide a 1.2 meter high...or 4 foot high barrier between your home and your pool! My diagram displays a simple layout to provide a solution to the bylaw. But what if you don't want the yard divided like that?

There are in some ways, ideas that can address the bylaw and still keep your entertaining space open. Playing with deck levels and elevation changes in your yard could help you to disguise a fence with a gate. But there are the unfortunate circumstances for some backyard layouts where you are simply stuck with the great wall of China going through your backyard!!!

City of Toronto pool By-laws

A great mystery is about to be revealed! So if you live within the City of Toronto boundaries and are considering putting a pool in your yard...where would you find the bylaws that regulate pool construction online?

As a landscape designer, I asked this question myself...and did an extensive Google search for such bylaws that would regulate the construction of a pool in the City of Toronto...and came up with absolutely nothing!

Now I know that the City of Toronto website posts all or most of their bylaws online in PDF format. This is done so that we can quickly look them up and pretend to be a lawyer in understanding the legal terms and language used to write these bylaws...so that we can know if we are breaking a bylaw rule...or conforming to it.

In order to figure out where the pool bylaws are hidden you have to look in the City of Toronto Fence enclosure bylaws under the Toronto Municipal Code ... yes folks...almost everything you wanted to know about putting a pool in your backyard is there under section 447-3...Swimming Pool Enclosures... and can only be found by searching with the keywords "Toronto Fence bylaws"!...and not the logical keywords... "Toronto Pool bylaws". The only thing I could not seem to find online is the pool setbacks from the property line. I guess that question is better answered by a quick phone call into the bylaw office...instead of hopelessly trying to find it online.

Anyway, the original purpose of this article was set out to talk about a new "Toronto Pool bylaw" in which you are now required to install 4 sided pool fence enclosures instead of the traditional 3 sided enclosures that incorporated the use of your house wall as the 4 th side to enclose your pool....but this will be discussed in the next article...

follow up....so I am still bugged by the fact I cannot find pool bylaws online...I decided to investigate this further by calling into the City (Access Toronto 416-338-0338) and spoke with a service rep for a few minutes. He was very helpful in terms of trying to figure things out...but he was stumped because he could not find any information on his data base. So I got redirected to another number...had to give my home address in order to talk to a zoning examiner for my area...

...but then I was told I no longer lived in the Former North York area...it is now the West District(???) ...somehow my property got shifted out of North York and slotted into Etobicoke... Anyway, I said I am making a general inquiry for Pool Bylaws in Toronto! I was then told...it is different for different districts of Toronto (???????) and I would have to call another number for my area. So I told the lady...basically I have to pretend I am putting a pool in at my home in order to find out information on pool bylaws? She said...I should not be doing that!!!

By this point I was having a good morning laugh... I told her... this is part of my job, I need to know this information because I like to be informed when potential clients call me up and ask me questions... she said...I understand that sir, but you need to give a specific address for where the pool is being built. So I said...okay, I want to put one in at my location! ...I figured I would get somewhere that way.... she gave me a new number to call for the "West District" and I got someone's voice mail box that was already full and I could not leave a message.

I just called another number for the Etobicoke/"York" district...got an automated response which then directed me to another voice mail...I could either leave a message or go in person to make inquiries! I'm still laughing here...

So........... all in all....pool setbacks remain just as elusive on the City of Toronto phone network as they do online. So I guess my best suggestion would be to find out what district you live in for the City of Toronto....and pay them a visit in person!


Let me know what you find out!

The outdoor fireplace

A lot of times I am asked by clients if I can incorporate an outdoor fireplace in my designs for them. It is usually the thought of having a lovely open log burning fireplace with a beautiful stone hearth and elaborate mantle piece to create some cozy little corner in the yard that brings in this request.
Unfortunately in some urban areas, the fire code bylaws prevent open flame burning in this manner...check with your local bylaw office on regulations in this regard. Now, having said that...there is nothing against having an outdoor gas fireplace...provided that it is installed by a certified installer! When you consider this option, the possibilities are endless in terms of the outdoor living room you can create..... the particular fireplace in the above picture is a gas unit made to look like a wood burning installation....perfectly safe and bylaw compliant!

The Toronto Fire Bylaw says that open air burning is not permitted unless used for cooking purposes... click here to read more

Tree Protection in the GTA (Greater Toronto area) ???

As mentioned a few times in my blog articles... the issues of tree protection in the City of Toronto are very present. Through my work as a designer in the Greater Toronto Area, I often come across issues of trees on private property that have been 'planted in the wrong place'.

Knowing how strict Toronto's Urban Forestry is in regards to tree protection, I began to look into tree protection bylaws in the surrounding areas...

The Town of Richmond Hill

As of March 19th, 2007... The Town of Richmond Hill enacted a tree protection bylaw... trees greater than 20 cm in caliper diameter are protected!

20 cm!?!?! I thought to myself... In Toronto they regulate at 30 cm! Hmmmm.... Is Richmond Hill trying to one up their big neighbour to the south?? Whatever the case... it looks good on them! Makes my job a bit more difficult ... but I am happy to comply with regulations that save trees!

The City of Vaughan

... no protection set in place as of yet but a recent event in Klienburg has resulted in a stir of activity to push a tree protection by law into place... right now, what is protected in terms of trees in the Vaughan area is woodlots.

In the past, the population explosion of Urban development in the "Town" of Vaughan made it jump to city status almost overnight. (A town changes to City status once the population exceeds 50 000 people) One would conclude there are more residential properties in Vaughan then there are old growth woodlots... All I can say regarding that is...Get to it Vaughan!!!

The Town of Newmarket

... No mention of tree protection ... What happened? I think there is something pending but nothing I can find just yet...

The Township of King

... or more popularly known as King City ... no mention of tree protection ... although they are a smaller group in the GTA, they still have some headwaters of the Humber River Basin to think about! Maybe coordinate with the Seneca College Campus in King and get some conservation programs in place? How about linking up with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and setting a bylaw in place with them?

The City of Mississauga and the Town of Aurora

I grouped these two areas because of similar bylaws...

In Mississauga... No tree greater than 15 cm!!! Shall be cut without a permit ... the best size yet, but there is a snag here...

In Aurora... a 20 cm bylaw ... from what I can tell on their website, protects trees greater then 20 cm in caliper diameter... Toronto??? Still 30 cm!

But wait!!! There is a snag here to the bylaw in both of these areas!!!

The By-law states that property owners require a permit to remove 5 or more trees that are within regulated diameters or larger from their private property in a calendar year.

That means, you can remove 4 trees of any size within January to December of each year. ????????? But cut a 5th tree in that time period and you need a permit?????

Who the heck made that bylaw up??? Maybe someone in the city council had 4 trees on their property that they wanted gone and wanted to fly under the radar the day the bylaw was drafted up???

Based on my interpretation of this bylaw, you can cut 4 trees on your property each year and if you have a lot of trees on your property, divide the total number by 4 to get how many years it will take you to have a completely cleared lot without ever contacting anyone for permission! That seems like a joke to me....

The City of Brampton

I found this by-law in place since 2006 I believe... Brampton Tree Preservation By-Law I believe it states that you need a permit to remove most trees over 40 cm DBH. Not that impressive but at least there is some sort of preservation for the larger trees. Also noted is that one can remove a tree at any size if it is considered invasive according to the City of Brampton. There are many exemptions to needing a permit so it is best to read through the by-law and see where your situation fits in.


The Town of Oakville

From what I can tell on their website, enacted back in 2004 was a bylaw to preserve trees greater than 30 cm in diameter... same as Toronto's standards... I think Toronto should change their bylaw to 20 cm in diameter!

Durham Region

At the moment Durham Region has a bylaw enacted to protect woodlots ... With the Urban sprawl going on in this region, hopefully the local communities act and set bylaw protections in place for private properties as well...

Pickering ...has a limited bylaw for conservation lands

Ajax ... when I looked it up I got an error page with the following text at the top "The system cannot find the file specified"... good luck with that one.... Hopefully it is in error due to updates on changing tree protection bylaws???

Whitby ... similar to Pickering, has protection in place for designated conservation lands and woodlots but not much for private property unless your property falls under the protected land areas.

Oshawa ... all I could find was a protection bylaw for City owned trees and it was enacted in 1983!! Time for an update???


Anyway, I hope to update this post for any changes to the bylaws in some of these communities. I may have missed some bylaws that are in place, if I did, they are hard to find on their websites!!! (Note to the webmasters)

Anyone with further information regarding tree bylaws in these areas... feel free to contact me and I will look into them so I can update this article...

Tree Protection Zones

Tree Hording? Tree Protection Zones? City By-laws? Arborist reports?

(Picture: A big old healthy White Spruce in Northern Ontario. Estimated 40 feet in diameter and to be 80 to 100 years old)

In relation to my "Gone are the days" post a few weeks ago, I write this post as a brief follow up on the topic. In the Urban Landscapes, City forestry is doing their best to protect the older and mature trees that are over 30 cm in caliper size.

Tree Hording is a protective barrier that is built with plywood and 2 x 4 frames... set up to prevent construction materials, equipment, excavation activity and any other vehicles from entering a tree protection zone.

Tree protection zones are designated areas of protection for the root system of a tree. What determines how big that protection area will be? The caliper (diameter) of the tree trunk size. For instance, a 35 cm caliper tree will have a 2.4 meter radius set up around it as a protection zone.

Why protect the tree so far out? Roots are delicate! The tree acclimatizes the soil around it and adjusts the conditions in its favour for optimal growing. Imagine a 2 ton bundle of house bricks being stored on top of its roots? Or a 4 ton machine parked or driving over the root zone? Essentially the soil structure gets compacted and air spaces below the surface around the roots will be crushed.

The roots can be damaged and cause the tree to go into stress as it can no longer take up nutrients like it has always done.

(Picture: This roadway was widened and paved... causing the giant sugar maple on the right of the road to fall under stress and it eventually had to be cut down.)

So... by-laws are now in place to preserve the giants of our urban landscapes. In some places those by-laws are a slap on the wrist and in others they are a deep and hurtful pinch to the wallet.

Arborist reports are made to advise the general state or conditions of trees on a site slated for construction. The report covers how big a tree protection zone needs to be and what if any special needs or protective measures that particular tree may need to continue a long and healthy life. The report may also explain reasons for removal of a specific tree deemed hazardous or unsafe... or just simply in the way of construction progress. City forestry has the ultimate say on removal issues.

Get to know your city's by-laws regarding tree protection before you start digging or chopping!

Gone are the days....

Gone are the days in the City of Toronto when you could simply rip down an existing home and with only the building permits in place, build what ever you wanted!!! It is February of 2007 and my phone is ringing with calls for help!

Someone doing a property flip is faced with a possible stop work order because they failed to adhere to the City of Toronto's by-laws set in place by Urban Forestry. Trees over 30 cm in caliper are protected from removal unless a permit application is made for cutting the tree down! This measurement is taken along the trunk of the tree... 4 feet (1.2 m) off the ground... at that height you measure the diameter at the tree's thickest point of the trunk.

So why is my phone ringing? Rules are not being followed by people that should know they are in place. I just came from a site visit where a residential construction project using heavy haul equipment is in the works on an older lot in the Scarborough Bluffs area... there are several large trees on the site and the construction is interfering with the root systems of these trees.

All the trees are over the 30 cm diameter and none of them are properly protected according to the city's requirements! Now what??? A 70 foot tall Colorado Blue Spruce has had 1 major anchor root severed and 3 main feeder/anchor roots severed on the south side. I need to make a tree protection plan for the city and the contractor... and I need to make a report on the tree damage...

Again, now what??? That tree will begin to show visible signs of stress in the next year or two... I expect about 10% to 20% of the branch structure on that side will be lost over the next 2 to 3 years and this once majestic looking Spruce tree will not look so hot anymore.

The saving grace...in my honest opinion is that this tree will recover from the damage... but not without scars... it will take about a good solid 3 growing seasons to redirect it's root structure for that side...it was the south side damaged and so in those 2 to 3 years... I just hope we do not get a major windstorm that will carry heavy winds off Lake Ontario and blow to the north... that may cause the tree to lean towards 3 neighbouring properties.

Yikes!!!

Anyway, the point of my rant??? Thinking about a property flip? A tear-down and rebuild... all in the City of Toronto boundaries?? If you have mature trees (30 cm or greater in caliper) and also if you live in a ravine protected area......... Call Urban Forestry before you even start work!!! As I was on that particular site today, my phone rang...someone else from another project is in the same situation with the City of Toronto over a tree needing protection during construction.

There is only so much that can be done once construction happens... If nothing was done before construction started... The inspectors for the City will be majorly annoyed! Destruction of trees and ravine property is viewed as criminal action and will be treated accordingly with fines and lawsuits by the City of Toronto.