RU-20: Rural Twenty

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house, with a secondary suite, a carriage house or a secondary dwelling of up to 90 m²; on a lot over 1 ha, two houses instead

Main uses

Farming, plant nursery, silviculture, fish hatchery, veterinary clinic, home business, bed and breakfast, home workshop industry, farm and forest product sales up to 100 m²; a kennel or riding academy over 2 ha; wood processing, a sawmill or gravel extraction over 4 ha

Smallest lot for a subdivision

20 ha

Lot coverage

Floor area of all buildings at most 15% of the lot (s. 802.6)

Height limit

10 m (accessory buildings 8 m)

Setbacks

Front and rear 7.5 m, sides 1.75 m (3.5 m on a lot over 31 m wide), a side on a road 7.5 m

The extra home is one of a secondary suite (inside the house, at most 90 m² and under 40% of the house's floor area, with its own entrance), a carriage house (a home of at most 90 m² over a garage or shop, up to 8 m high) or a secondary dwelling (a detached home of at most 90 m², up to 8 m high), each with its own parking space; none can be subdivided or strata-titled from the lot (ss. 314, 315).

A kennel stays 15 m from every lot line and 30 m from any lake, sea, stream or wetland.

Wood processing and gravel extraction stay 15 m from every lot line and 30 m from a residential lot (s. 802.3).

An RV may be lived in while the house is built under a building permit, for up to 365 days, once a septic system is in and with a $1,000 security; otherwise one RV may be lived in for at most 60 days in a year (s. 313).

Buildings stay 4.5 m from a lot line on a road, and 22.5 m from the centre line of Island Highway 19A (19.5 m on the ocean side in Area A) (s. 402).

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 CVRD's planning services department before you buy or build.

Source: Rural Comox Valley Zoning Bylaw No. 520, 2019 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-20); no open zoning map (ask the CVRD's planning services department which zone a lot is in).