R: Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

A house with a secondary dwelling unit (inside it or detached), a duplex, or a townhome building of two homes

Main uses

House, duplex, two-unit townhome; secondary dwelling unit, home occupation and home-based business, accessory buildings, large animals

Smallest lot for a subdivision

500 m² on community water and sewer, 4,000 m² on community water only

Lot coverage

25%, or 40% on community water and sewer

Height limit

Main building 12 m, accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

Front 6 m, sides 1.5 m (4.5 m beside a street), rear 6 m (accessory buildings 1.5 m)

New lots are on community water, and on community sewer where it's available (s. 6.6); the zone sets no lot size without community water.

Site-specific (s. 6.1): the smallest lot is 2,200 m² at 645b Barriere Lakes Road (Bylaw 199), and 260 m² at 4756 Barriere Town Road (part of Lot 7, Plan KAP5207) when a two-unit townhome is split into two lots (Bylaw 258).

Townhome units sharing a party wall on an interior side lot line, under a party wall agreement, need no side setback there (s. 3.15).

Large animals kept outside the home, at most one per 0.4 ha (s. 6.1)

Secondary dwelling unit (s. 3.8, Bylaw 245): inside the house or in a detached coach house or garden suite, with a building permit, suitable servicing and one more parking space (s. 3.10). A detached one stands 4 m from the rear lot line and 1.5 m from the sides (4.5 m from a side street), with its entrance visible from the road, and may never be a short-term rental or a bed and breakfast. Section 3.8 also sets 4 m from the front and a 12 m height, but s. 3.5(e) holds accessory buildings to the main building's front setback and the zones cap accessory buildings at 5 m; we read the suite rule as the specific one, but which governs is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

Whether a detached secondary dwelling unit is held to the 65 m² cap on each accessory building on lots under 4,000 m² (s. 3.5(d)). Section 3.8 gives it its own setbacks and a 12 m height but no floor area, so this is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

How many houses or duplexes one lot may hold. The zone lists them as uses but sets no number of homes per lot; the bylaw points to one house (ss. 4.5 and 5.5 allow an "additional" house only on a farm, and s. 3.7 assumes a lot with one house), so this is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

Renting a home by the night. The bylaw mentions short-term rental only to bar it, with bed and breakfasts, from a detached secondary dwelling unit (s. 3.8(a)(v)); it lists neither as a use in any zone, and only listed uses are permitted (s. 2.2(b)), so whether a house or an inside suite may be rented short term is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

Home occupation in any zone (s. 3.13(n)): a business inside the home on up to 25% of its living area, with no change to how it looks, no outside storage, no flammable materials, a sign of at most 0.3 m² and no cannabis sales (s. 1). A home-based business, the same thing in an accessory building, is allowed in every zone but RM.

A temporary second home for someone who cares for, or is cared for by, the owner (s. 3.7): while a physician certifies the care is needed, on a lot with only one house, of 4,000 m² on community water or 8,000 m² without, at the zone's setbacks, with approved wastewater disposal and a statutory declaration to the District by December 31 each year.

Modular homes (CSA A277) and mobile homes (CSA Z240) count as single detached dwellings (s. 1). Outside a mobile home park one sits on a BC Building Code foundation (or engineer-approved screw piles), skirted and insulated, and at least 6.5 m wide for half its length; a narrower one already there when the bylaw passed may stay and be replaced (s. 3.9(b); whether that means 2014 or the later amendment that added the rule is unclear).

No accessory building before the main building is built or permitted (s. 3.5(a)); each accessory building is at most 65 m² of floor area on lots under 4,000 m² (s. 3.5(d)) and keep the main building's front and street-side setbacks (s. 3.5(e)); a storage container used as one is at most 3 m tall unless it has a peaked roof (s. 3.5(c)).

An RV or other temporary home may stay on the lot while a building permit for the main building is open (s. 3.6).

Fences in residential zones: 1 m in the front yard, stepping up to 2 m along the side lot lines, 2 m in side and rear yards (s. 3.12). The bylaw doesn't say which zones count as residential; we apply this to the R and RM zones, and whether it covers SH, CR and MH is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

At a street corner, nothing over 0.8 m tall within the triangle reaching 24 m along each road's centre line from where they meet (s. 3.11).

No building within 30 m of the Barriere or North Thompson River, 15 m of any other watercourse or 7.5 m of the inside toe of a dike. Floors used for living, business or storing goods that floodwater would damage stand at the North Thompson or Barriere River's flood construction level (or 3 m above the Barriere River's high water mark where none is set) and 1.5 m above any other watercourse; the floor rule leaves out renovations, additions under 25% of the floor area, garages and carports, farm buildings other than homes and closed livestock barns, and industrial buildings flood-proofed to the engineered level or behind an approved dike (s. 3.4).

On ALR land the Agricultural Land Reserve rules come first: no subdivision or new non-farm use without the Commission's approval (s. 2.4).

Every zone also allows public uses (roads, parks, water and sewer works, fire halls, schools), trails and sports courts, conservation, flood control and processing firewood for your own use (s. 3.13); banned everywhere are bulk hazardous storage not tied to a permitted use, commercial slaughtering and rendering, feedlots and stockyards, and biosolids brought in for resale (s. 3.14). Telecom towers are allowed in any zone on a lot of 2 ha or more, 150 m from a residential zone (s. 3.13(f)).

Minimum lot sizes apply to new lots; a smaller lot registered before the bylaw may use all the zone's uses if its sewage disposal meets the Public Health Act (s. 3.2). A lot in two zones follows each zone on its own part (s. 3.3). On a corner lot the owner picks which line is the front; eaves and similar features may reach 60 cm into a setback, and uncovered patios and steps don't count (s. 1).

Height is measured from the average finished grade to the highest point, leaving out chimneys, antennas and rooftop equipment (s. 1).

Parking (s. 3.10): 2 spaces per home, 1.5 per home in a multi-family building, 1 per secondary suite.

Site-specific exceptions listed in the bylaw by legal description can add or change uses for one property, and development permit areas, the ALR and building rules apply on top. Confirm with the District of Barriere's office before you buy or build.

Source: District of Barriere Zoning Bylaw No. 111 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – Thompson-Nicola Regional District.