RS-4: One-Family Compact Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house with one secondary suite inside it; one principal building per lot (s. 2202(2)); at most 27 homes per hectare, suites not counted (ss. 2205(5), (7))

Main uses

A house, a secondary suite, boarding, home occupations, accessory residential uses (s. 2205(2))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

375 m², 12.5 m wide, 22.7 m deep (s. 2205(4))

Lot coverage

45% (s. 2205(6))

Height limit

House 7.3 m, or 9.0 m where at least 80% of the roof is pitched 3 in 12 or steeper; detached accessory buildings 3.7 m, 4.6 m with a roof of 4 in 12 or steeper (s. 2205(10))

Setbacks

House and attached accessory buildings: front 6 m (the front faces may average 6 m with none closer than 2 m, except on a corner lot), rear 6 m, sides 1.25 m for the one-storey part and 1.75 m for the part above, street side 3 m. Detached accessory buildings at least 1.6 m from the house: front 7.6 m, rear and sides 1.2 m, street side 3.8 m (s. 2205(8))

A legacy zone: it applies only to land zoned so on June 30, 2025, until that land is rezoned, and the City won't rezone land into it (s. 2202(1)). Why a lot kept it, and whether the Province's small-scale multi-unit housing law lets it have more homes, isn't said in the bylaw: ask the City.

The zone sets no floor area ratio and no wall-volume rule for the house; inside the area on Schedule Q, a one-home building is at most 511 m² plus 40 m² for an attached garage (s. 524).

Detached accessory buildings: 3.7 m high, 4.6 m with a roof of 4 in 12 or steeper; at most 9.2 m along any wall (s. 2205(10), (11)).

A secondary suite: one per house, inside the house (never in a detached building), never on a title of its own; it needs one more parking space on the lot at least 5.0 m long, and on a septic system written confirmation that the system can take it (s. 2202(2)).

Parking: two spaces for the house and one for a suite or other accessory dwelling unit (s. 706(1)).

Subdivision without City water and sewer: at least 1.25 ha (0.4 ha with City water but no sewer) (s. 602(2)). The Approving Officer may cut the zone's minimum width by up to 10% for the last lot of a subdivision (s. 603(2)).

Boarding: at most two boarders in a home; a bed and breakfast counts as boarding, for one family or two boarders, inside the building (s. 508(1)).

Home occupations: licensed, run by someone who lives there with at most one employee from elsewhere, indoors, at most 40% of the home's floor area, no sales of goods made elsewhere and nothing that shows from outside but a small sign (s. 508(3)).

Tourist accommodation (stays of 60 days or less) isn't a residential use under the bylaw (Part 2) and isn't listed in this zone; a bed and breakfast counts as boarding (above). Ask the City whether and how a home here may be rented by the night.

Parts 2 to 7 of the bylaw also apply: setbacks can grow for arterial roads, flood and slope protection and streamside areas (ss. 518, 519, 523) or shrink for allowed projections (s. 514); Part 7 sets parking.

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 City of Coquitlam's planning and development department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 2205 of City of Coquitlam Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 1996 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05); zone map: Open Government Licence – Coquitlam.