When Leslie Doyle and her husband, Jackson Stone, set out to design what will be one of the first newly permitted laneway houses in Toronto, they knew they wanted it to be green and somewhat absorbent, particularly the roof. Doyle owns Restoration Gardens Inc., a company that designs and installs living roofs — an engineered system of vegetation on top of filtration systems and waterproof layers built to insulate against energy loss and prevent flooding by absorbing heavy rainfall. So stormwater and overflowing streets were top of mind when planning the two-storey laneway house on their Little Italy property.“There is so much flooding,” says Doyle, who is also renovating the main house on the property near Ossington Ave. and College St. that will be the family’s home. “The more green roofs we can have in the city, the more it will help with storm water.”When it is finished — hopefully by late spring — the 1,125 square-foot laneway structure will include a 385-square-foot garage.Laneway housing is a bit of a new frontier in terms of urban development — one that’s beginning to gain traction in Toronto after council passed regulations last summer allowing homeowners to convert garages and build up unused space into suites. The rules state the houses must be self-contained and can be rented out or used to provide a home for family members, but not sold off as a separate property.The idea is not only to provide a boost in income and overall value for homeowners, but also TO increase the number of rental units and secondary suites across the city — albeit a modest increase. There were about 78 potential sites at different stages of the permit process by mid-March. Fifteen minor variance applications — where homeowners can make the case for a slight bend in city rules — have been submitted, and six permits have been issued, according to city staff.Doyle and Stone are working with VFA Architec ...
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