MX-1: Riverside Centre Mixed Use

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Houses, duplexes, apartments and townhouses, homes in commercial buildings; a secondary suite in a house

Main uses

Houses, duplexes, multi-family buildings, homes in commercial buildings, shops including convenience stores, cannabis retail, restaurant, hotel or motel, offices, personal services, assembly, civic and funeral uses, entertainment, fabrication shop, mini-storage, car wash, preschool, public market, service station, parking lot; secondary suite, home based business

Smallest lot for a subdivision

500 m² on community water and sewer, 2,000 m² on community water only, 1 ha with neither

Lot coverage

60%, all buildings together

Height limit

Main building 15 m, accessory buildings 6 m

Setbacks

Front 0 m (accessory buildings 6 m), interior sides 3 m (accessory buildings 1.5 m), exterior side 4.5 m, rear 5 m (accessory buildings 6 m)

Homes in a commercial building are on or above the business's floor with their own entrance (s. 9.5.3).

Commercial and multi-family buildings need the official community plan's development permit; houses and duplexes don't (s. 9.5.1).

The zone sets no number of homes per hectare for multi-family buildings or homes in commercial buildings; houses and duplexes stay at one per lot (s. 5.25.1).

Secondary suite (s. 5.22): one, inside a single family dwelling (a house; the bylaw's single family dwelling leaves out manufactured homes, s. 2.2), never in a duplex or manufactured home, with its own entrance, up to 40% of the house's habitable floor area and 90 m², registered with the District and inspected before anyone moves in; one more parking space (Table 3).

Home based business (s. 5.18): run mainly by the people who live there, inside the house, duplex or manufactured home, with at most one full-time or two part-time employees from outside, no outside storage or change to how the home looks, and none of vehicle repair, trucking, sawmilling, welding, kennels, retail of goods not made on the lot, pubs or restaurants, or cannabis retail. A child care centre or preschool of up to ten children counts as one (s. 5.19). One customer parking space (Table 3).

The bylaw doesn't mention short-term rental. This zone allows traveller accommodation (s. 2.2: short stays in a motel, hotel, hostel or cabins); whether renting out a home by the night counts as that is unclear; ask the District of Clearwater.

Parking (Table 3): 2 spaces per house or duplex unit; apartments and homes in commercial buildings 1.3 plus 0.2 for visitors; townhouses 1.5 plus 0.2.

A landscape plan by a landscape architect, designer or certified arborist comes with any building or development permit worth $50,000 or more (s. 5.12.1); garbage bins of 1 m³ or more are screened 2.5 m tall (s. 5.12.5).

Next to a residential lot, the setbacks along the shared lot line are landscaped or screened at least 1.5 m tall on this lot (s. 5.12.4).

Shipping containers (s. 5.26) as accessory buildings: up to two 40 ft or four 20 ft per lot, screened, at accessory building setbacks.

Nothing but a sign within 4.5 m of a provincial controlled access highway (s. 5.8.1).

Development within a riparian assessment area of a stream follows the provincial Riparian Areas Regulation's setbacks (s. 5.8.3).

On ALR land, the Agricultural Land Commission's rules come first: no extra home, duplex, carriage suite or garden suite without its approval, and agri-tourism lodging of up to four rooms (s. 4.4). Licensed cannabis production is allowed on ALR land in any zone, on a lot of 8 ha or more (s. 5.23.1).

Every zone also allows community gardens, municipal parks, utilities, rooftop solar and accessory uses of the zone's main uses, off ALR land (s. 5.2); beekeeping under the Animal Control Bylaw (s. 5.28).

Height is measured from the average finished grade to the highest point, leaving out chimneys, antennas and rooftop equipment (s. 2.2).

Minimum lot sizes apply to new lots. A lot for a relative's home under s. 514 of the Local Government Act is 8,000 m² (s. 5.3(e)).

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 Clearwater's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: District of Clearwater Zoning Bylaw No. 133, 2016 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – Thompson-Nicola Regional District.