RM: Residential Multi-Family

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments and townhomes of three or more homes, townhomes, houses

Main uses

Multi-family buildings, townhomes, houses; home occupation, accessory buildings

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1,000 m²

Lot coverage

No maximum

Height limit

Multi-family buildings and townhomes 12 m, accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

Front 6 m, sides 6 m (accessory buildings 1.5 m, or 4.5 m beside a street), rear 6 m (accessory buildings 1.5 m); multi-family buildings on one lot stand 6 m apart

The zone sets no number of homes per lot or per hectare; height, setbacks, the open space rule and parking set the limit.

New development is on community water and sewer (s. 7.5(a)). Each home gets 20 m² of landscaped open space, not counting parking (s. 7.5(b)). Shared parking is paved and screened from streets and neighbours by a fence or wall at least 1.25 m tall, and none sits in the front setback (s. 7.5(c), (d)). Stormwater stays on the lot (s. 7.5(e)).

No secondary dwelling unit and no home-based business in an accessory building in this zone (ss. 7.1, 3.13(n)); a home occupation inside the home is allowed.

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).

The zone sets no height for a house (s. 7.4 covers multi-family buildings, townhomes and accessory buildings).

How the screen of at least 1.25 m around shared parking (s. 7.5(c)) fits the 1 m cap on front-yard fences (s. 3.12). This is unclear; ask the District of Barriere.

The bylaw lists no short-term rental or bed and breakfast use, and only listed uses are permitted (s. 2.2(b)). Ask the District before renting a home here short term.

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.