C-1: Community Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments in a mixed commercial and residential building, above the shops or behind them on the ground floor, each home at least 32 m²; or a home or sleeping unit that goes with a business, above it or behind it, with its own outside entrance (ss. 7.14.1(y), 7.14.2, 7.14.6(b), 7.14.6(d)). At most 180 homes per gross hectare as the figure reads, though the words say eighty: unclear, so ask the City (s. 7.14.4)

Exceptions (2)

• Up to two homes below the first storey across three lots the bylaw names
• A house on two lots the bylaw names

Listed in ss. 7.14.1(aa), 7.14.6(b)(iv) of the bylaw.

Main uses

Offices, medical, dental and other health and social services, labs, group day care, shops of every kind including food, drug, clothing, furniture and appliance stores and car sales, rental and parts, personal and household services, hotels and motels, restaurants and pubs (no drive-ins), travel agents, fitness, clubs and lodges, churches, public buildings, schools, colleges and universities, bus depots and taxis, theatres, upholstery, mail order, auctions, printing and publishing, broadcast studios, parking, a liquor store, banks, cannabis retail, a craft brewery or distillery; apartments with commercial space (ss. 7.14.1, 7.14.2)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

232 m², at least 7.5 m along the street (s. 7.14.3)

Lot coverage

No limit set in the zone

Height limit

30.0 m (s. 7.14.5)

Setbacks

The zone sets none

The zone sets no setbacks or lot coverage of its own; parking (Part 6) and the building code still limit where a building goes (our reading); the corner sight-line rule doesn't apply in C-1 (s. 4.09).

Business is carried on inside a building, except parking and loading, screened storage yards and display, rental or sales areas (s. 7.14.6(a)).

No wrecking or repair of vehicles and no derelict vehicles stored (s. 7.14.6(c)).

Homes and businesses aren't on the same storey (except homes behind the shops on the ground floor), each has its own entrance from grade, and each home has at least 4.0 m² of private outdoor space; parking for the homes is on the lot, one space per home in the downtown parking area (s. 4.15).

Cannabis retail at least 100 m from a group day care, playground, school or park, one per lot, at most four in the C-1 zone (s. 4.21).

Fences at most 1.0 m in the front yard and 1.8 m elsewhere; a screen at least 1.5 m high along a side or rear line next to a residential zone; land not built on, parked on or used for storage is landscaped (s. 4.11.2).

Commercial zones are areas where the City may consider a temporary use permit for a use the zone doesn't list (s. 4.22).

Short-term rental of a home isn't a use the zone lists, so ask the City before renting one by the night.

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 Cranbrook's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Part 7.14 of City of Cranbrook Zoning Bylaw No. 3977, 2019 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Open Government Licence – British Columbia (named by the City of Cranbrook).