Parking pads growing in popularity
August 16, 2008
Comments on this story
(0)
Ian Harvey
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
The soaring cost of oil is not only squeezing us at the pumps, it has also doubled the cost of asphalt in the last two years, making it costly to resurface the driveway .
Stefan Barth hit on a better idea when he found yet another ticket on his car after he'd parked on the street at his Oakville townhome.
"I thought `This is nuts,'" says the cutting tool importer. "I only have room for one car and I can't park on the grass because it damages it and I'm getting tickets."
Then, on a trip to Germany, he discovered a unique grid system which can be laid over grass and allows vehicles to park on it without causing damage.
Ground Solutions has been used all over Europe and America for the last decade, and while it's primarily designed and sold for commercial applications, Barth figures there's going to be a growing residential demand because of the product's environmentally friendly nature.
The system couldn't be simpler: It's a flexible plastic frame made from recycled plastics and tires which clips together into a giant mat.
The commercial versions are thicker and stronger and designed for applications such as erosion protection, gravel roadways, parking lots – it's even used along the sides of the runways at Lester B. Pearson International Airport to allow emergency vehicles access without tearing up the ground. In most cases, they're covered with gravel rather than grass, and the grid helps keep the gravel from being pushed aside.
A third design is intended for equestrian use, to pave paddocks and show jumping rings.
The residential versions are smaller and designed for less heavy duty work, but will easily handle any non-commercial vehicle.
The panels are 50x50x2.5cm, with a wall thickness of 5mm, with a 16 mm spine which faces down. Once installed, it will naturally sink a bit into the soil, but its open grid allows grass to grow through. As well, the panels can be easily cut to fit around trees, flower beds and other garden structures.
After that, says Barth, just water, fertilize and cut the grass as you would normally.
The concept caught Ellenor Hine's attention when she and her husband were in Oxford, England, where the grids are used in parks to allow the maintenance crews access.
"I thought that this was just what we needed because our daughter was driving our old car and we only had a single driveway," she says.
An Internet search put her in contact with Barth (groundsolutions.ca) and she had 100 square feet installed at their Lawrence Ave. East home about three years ago.
"We're very happy," she says. "If you park on it all the time the grass will turn a bit brown, but for occasional parking it's fine."
"And when you move, you can just pick it up and take it with you," Barth says. "Or if you dispose of it, it's recyclable."
Aside from the cost – at about $2.50 to $3 a square foot, it's much cheaper than asphalt – the big environmental plus is that when it rains, water doesn't run off and overload the municipal storm sewer system. Instead, the rainwater is absorbed into the ground.
In fact, cutting back on "hard" landscaping in favour of "soft" landscaping is part of a proposed City of Toronto bylaw which limits the amount of landscaping and front yard parking in homes.
Joe D'Abramo, acting director of the City of Toronto zoning bylaw project looking at the issue, says part of the problem is aesthetics. Some homeowners with single driveways simply pave over their front lawns to make extra spaces, he says, and that's not permissible.
As it stands, the Ground Solutions grid would support the city's goal of reducing water runoff but it wouldn't escape the city's stand on front yard parking, which is against parking anywhere between the front wall of the house and the boulevard.
However, those about to repave their driveways could use it or a similar product. It could be a much cheaper and greener alternative to asphalt, or even certain types of interlocking brick, which are sometimes so tightly packed that water can barely drain through.
Harry Kodors, of MMM Group Limited, a multidiscipline engineering firm, says he's been working with the product in mostly commercial applications such as schoolyards for soil retention and other high traffic areas and is impressed.
"It works well and I think there's a good residential potential for it as well," he says. "We've actually used it on driveways up in the Muskokas on cottages and it's good there, too."
Toronto Star