RS-5: Single Family Large Lot Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Two homes: a house with a secondary suite of up to 90 m² or 40% of the house's floor area, whichever is less, or a house and a detached accessory home (garden suite) of up to 65 m², never both (s. 37.1(1), (4), (6), 30.6, 30.7). Two buildings with homes only with a covenant against subdividing or strata titling the garden suite and a housing agreement that the owner lives on the lot and the garden suite stays available to rent (s. 37.1(5))

Exceptions (1)

• On lots the Township's Schedule A.2 overlay map shows as small-scale multi-family housing lots, up to four homes in up to two buildings under the RSM-2 zone (three under RSM-1 on lots of 280 m² or less), unless the lot is also shown as a tsunami hazard lot

Listed in s. 30.10, 40.2, 40.3 of the bylaw.

Main uses

One house, a secondary suite or a garden suite, home occupation, boarding (up to two rooms, without a suite), urban hens (s. 37.1(1))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

930 m², 21.3 m wide at the front building line, for a new lot (s. 37.1(2), (3))

Lot coverage

30% for all buildings and structures; the garden suite and accessory buildings together 10% of the lot and 25% of the rear yard; floor area up to 0.35 times the lot area (s. 37.1(7), (9))

Height limit

House 7.3 m; garden suite 4.2 m and no higher than the house; accessory buildings 3.6 m (s. 37.1(8))

Setbacks

House: front 7.5 m, rear 7.5 m, sides 1.5 m and 4.5 m together (3 m on one side without a rear lane, 3.6 m beside a street); garden suite behind the front of the house, 1.5 m from the sides (4.5 m together, 3.6 m beside a street) and the rear, 2.5 m from the house; accessory buildings behind the front of the house, 1.5 m from the side (3.6 m beside a street) and rear, 2.5 m from the house and the garden suite (s. 37.1(10))

The zone is for houses on large lots, with one more home as a garden suite or a secondary suite (s. 37.1).

A garden suite is one storey with no basement, shares the house's services and has its own 20 m² of outdoor space, and needs a development permit (s. 30.7).

Fences at most 1.2 m high in front of the house's front face and 2 m behind it (s. 37.1(11), subject to s. 22); parking as Parking Bylaw, 1992, No. 2011 sets (s. 37.1(12)).

Whether a lot is on the small-scale multi-family housing overlay or a tsunami hazard lot is on the bylaw's Schedule A.2; ask the Township.

Short-term rental isn't a use this zone lists; ask the Township of Esquimalt before renting a home short term.

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 Township of Esquimalt's development services department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 37.1 of Zoning Bylaw, 1992, No. 2050 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt.