Franke James has a driveway. She wants a lawn. In theory it should be a simple enough transition to make with some green, but for a resident of North York it's anything but. Franke's a proud environmentalist who recently ditched her car and as such now has no need for her paved driveway. Unfortunately, a North York by-law won't allow for anything else.

"It can be made of only three surfaces: concrete, asphalt, interlock," James laments. "They cause a heat island effect and also increase storm water runoff."

She wants to put in an environmentally friendly lawn and garden, but she's been told that's out of the question.

"It would look beautiful and it would be environmentally friendly," she promises of her dream green space. "We sold our car, we unplugged our beer fridge, I'm writing about the environment," she added. "We're doing whatever we can and I'm mad as hell."

According to officials at Toronto City Hall, the North York driveway by-law could be many still waiting to be looked at in the lengthy wake of amalgamation, though they've promised to look specifically into James' situation.