PlaceDossier / Zoning / Zone codes

P-4 zoning in BC

P-4 (also written P4) means whatever the bylaw that zones the lot says: there is no provincial P-4 zone. 8 bylaws we've summarised use it, from 8 local governments. It goes by 8 names: Ecological Reserve, Environmental Reserve, Public and Institutional Use, Public Works and Utility and 4 more. What it allows is below, bylaw by bylaw.

P-4 in each bylaw

Local government	Homes allowed	Smallest lot for a subdivision	Lot coverage	Height limit
Columbia Shuswap Regional District Recreational · Anglemont Zoning Bylaw No. 650	None Exceptions (1) An upper-floor home on two named lots	7.35 ha (30 m wide)	25%	Main buildings 11.5 m, accessory buildings 10 m
Regional District of East Kootenay Public Works and Utility · Electoral Area E Zoning and Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 2502, 2014	None: the zone lists no dwelling	None set in the zone	Not set	10 m
City of Abbotsford Special Housing Zone · City of Abbotsford Zoning Bylaw No. 2400-2014	Congregate housing and congregate care, at a floor space ratio of up to 1.4; one accessory home for a caretaker or manager	Not set	40%	12.2 m; accessory buildings 4.6 m
City of Kamloops Public and Institutional Use · City of Kamloops Zoning Bylaw No. 55, 2021	Care and seniors housing: assisted living, seniors housing, community care facilities, hostels; multi-unit housing only in the Columbia Precinct of the 2019 Downtown Plan (s. 6.5.3(c))	1,114 m², 18 m wide Exceptions (2) 1,068 m² on one named lot on Fortune Drive 850 m² on one named lot on Vernon Avenue	60%	4 storeys; 40 m in the Columbia Precinct of the 2019 Downtown Plan Exceptions (1) 60 m at Royal Inland Hospital on Columbia Street
City of Kelowna Utilities · City of Kelowna Zoning Bylaw No. 12375	None: the zone lists no dwelling	No minimum (s. 14.10)	Not set	10 m (accessory structures 23 m) (s. 14.14)
City of Penticton Environmental Reserve · City of Penticton Zoning Bylaw No. 2024-22	None: the zone lists no dwelling	Not set	Not set	Not set
District of Saanich Recreation and Open Space · District of Saanich Zoning Bylaw No. 8200	At most one home, for the owner, operator, manager or caretaker of the use it serves (accessory residential, s. 2)	No minimum set in the zone	None set in the zone	10.0 m (s. 1030.2)
District of Squamish Ecological Reserve · District of Squamish Zoning Bylaw No. 2200, 2011	None: the zone lists no home	No minimum set in the zone	None set in the zone	None set in the zone

Listed by local government, not ranked. "Not set" means the zone itself sets no figure; general rules elsewhere in its bylaw may still apply. Each zone's page has its uses, setbacks and the bylaw's sections.

Two lots both zoned P-4 under different bylaws can allow quite different things, and provincial law sets a floor of homes on most house zones in towns (how many homes can I build?). Site-specific exceptions, development permit areas and the ALR apply on top. Find the lot's own zone with the search above, then confirm with the local government before you buy or build.

Sources: each zone's bylaw, linked from its page, summarised in our words. Other councils' zones aren't here: the zoning we cover.