Entranceway and Pre-Severance Requests

In general, there are three (3) classifications of entranceways: residential, field, and commercial / industrial / institutional. Entranceways may be single purpose access or have special characteristics such as shared or temporary access. Residents looking for an access off a county road shall request approval from the Counties by submitting one of the following applicable forms.

Please complete an Entranceway Permit Application if you are looking to:

Create a new access on an existing lot of record (land already retained by the applicant);
Change the status of an existing entranceway (e.g. field to residential entranceway, single access to shared access, etc.);
Alter or relocate an existing entranceway; or,
Decommission an existing entranceway.

Please complete a Pre-Severance Request for an Entranceway if you are looking to:

Sever your property for new lot creation.

Please review the information below to ensure application completeness and regulation compliance.

All applications are to be submitted to the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville Public Works Department at roads@uclg.on.ca.

By-Law No. 24-47 - Access Policy

On June 20^th, 2024, the Counties Council passed an Access Policy which was adopted by By-Law No. 24-47. The policy has like purpose to regulate entranceways (or access points) on County Roads by implementing flexible and comprehensive guidelines to ensure proposed entranceways are approved in safe locations and in reasonable amounts. By minimizing the number of interference points (i.e. entranceways), County Roads can maintain their value in their inherent ability to move vehicular traffic over relatively long distances at reasonable speeds.

Please review By-Law No. 24-47 before applying for an entranceway.

Road Classification

Please review the Road Classification Map or the Schedule of County Road Classifications (at the back of By-Law No. 24-47) to determine the road classification (i.e. arterial, collector or settlement area). To confirm the exact boundaries of settlement areas, please refer to the County OP Schedule A – Land Use layer in the Counties’ Public Viewer.

Residential Entranceway

A proposed residential entranceway on a County Road will NOT be granted if:

There is an opportunity to install the entranceway on a side road (i.e. the property has frontage on a Township road);
The proposed entranceway would result in more than one (1) access per lot;
There are safety concerns including but not limited to sightlines and offsets; and,
The proposed entranceway does not meet section 4(h) and 4(i) of the Access Policy, that is:
- Arterial Roads
  - 4(h) Maximum Number of Access Points does not exceed 5/km/side of road
  - 4(i) Minimum Access Point Spacing is no less than
    - 200 m from adjacent entranceway
    - 100 m or aligned opposite of opposing entranceway
    - 70 m from an intersection
    - 50 m from a taper lane
    - 30 m from structures or 5 m from utilities
- Collector Roads
  - 4(h) Maximum Number of Access Points does not exceed 8/km/side of road
  - 4(i) Minimum Access Point Spacing is no less than
    - 150 m from adjacent entranceway
    - 100 m or aligned opposite of opposing entranceway
    - 50 m from an intersection
    - 50 m from a taper lane
    - 30 m from structures or 5 m from utilities
- Settlement Areas – exempt from section 4(h) and 4(i) but may be subject to corresponding Township policies.

Where the above offsets/regulations cannot be met for both existing lots of record and proposed severances, the applicant may wish to consider a shared entranceway. Please note that an Easement and Joint Maintenance Agreement may be required.

Entranceways proposed for existing lots of records that have no access points, where the above offsets/requirements cannot be met, may be granted a variance. In such cases, the terms of the variance will be at the discretion of the Counties’ Public Works Managers/Director. Applicants are encouraged to select an optimal location; that is, it meets the majority of the outlined offsets.

Commercial / Industrial / Institutional Entranceway

As per section 4(k) of the Access policy, multi-residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional access points may require a supportive Traffic Impact Study (TIS), completed to the satisfaction of the Manager.

A proposed commercial entranceway on a County Road will NOT be granted if:

The proposed entranceway does not comply with the approved site plan (if applicable);
There is an opportunity to install the entranceway on a side road (i.e. the lot has frontage on a Township road);
The proposed entranceway would result in more than one (1) access per lot;
There are safety concerns including but not limited to sightlines and offsets; and/or,
The proposed entranceway does not meet section 4(h) and 4(i) of the Access Policy, that is:
- Arterial Roads
  - 4(h) Maximum Number of Access Points does not exceed 5/km/side of road
  - 4(i) Minimum Access Point Spacing is no less than
    - 400 m from adjacent entranceway
    - 100 m or aligned opposite of opposing entranceway
    - 70 m from an intersection
    - 50 m from a taper lane
    - 30 m from structures or 5 m from utilities
- Collector Roads
  - 4(h) Maximum Number of Access Points does not exceed 8/km/side of road
  - 4(i) Minimum Access Point Spacing is no less than
    - 250 m from adjacent entranceway
    - 100 m or aligned opposite of opposing entranceway
    - 50 m from an intersection
    - 50 m from a taper lane
    - 30 m from structures or 5 m from utilities
- Settlement Areas – exempt from section 4(h) and 4(i) but may be subject to corresponding Township policies.

Field Entranceway

Field accesses proposed on County Roads may be exempt from section 4(h) – Maximum Number of Access Points and section 4(i) – Minimum Access Point Spacing of the Access Policy.

Field accesses shall be used for agricultural purposes only, as outlined in the Access Policy, and must meet safety standards before being considered for approval.

Validity

Both Pre-Severance Requests for an Entranceway and Entranceway Permits are valid for a period of 12 months from the date of approval.

Permits may be extended at the discretion of the Manager/Director. As per By-Law No. 25-10, an extension fee of $100.00 may apply.

Fees

The administrative fee for both the Pre-Severance Request for an Entranceway and the Entranceway Permit, under By-Law No. 25-10, is $150.00.

Please note that fees associated with the Pre-Severance Request for an Entranceway must be paid before the permit is reviewed by the Counties’ Public Works team.

Full cost recovery fees may apply for approved Entranceway Permits (e.g. inspection fees, material supply and delivery, etc.)

As per By-Law No. 25-10, a revision fee of $50.00 as well as a permit extension fee of $100.00 may be applied at the discretion of Counties Staff.

All applicable fees can be paid over the phone by Visa of Mastercard.

Attachments

Applications shall be considered complete when submitted with a property sketch with the following clearly outlined:

Property lines
Civic number (or adjoining property civic number)
Road number / name
Location of proposed and/or existing entranceway(s) with offsets (in meters) from distinct landmarks (i.e. property lines, other access points, etc.)
Proposed severance lines, if applicable.

Please refer to the sample sketch below:

Applicants may wish to use the Counties' Public Viewer to produce a sketch similar to above. Offsets in meters can be taken by selecting the ruler symbol in the top right corner of the map window.