C-3: General Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments only above the shops or offices of a mixed-use building (commercial on the ground floor), keeping the RM-4 zone's requirements for apartments, which allow at most 155 homes per hectare (ss. 20.2, 20.4.3, 17.3; the bylaw's definition of mixed-use, s. 3); or one caretaker suite with a business on the lot (s. 4.19). Which of RM-4's lot size, setback and floor area rules also bind the homes here is unclear: ask the City

Main uses

Shops and shopping centres, restaurants, pubs and liquor stores, hotels and motels, offices, personal services, a gaming facility, a theatre or cinema, recreation and amusement, a health services facility, a community care facility, a major daycare, schools run as businesses, art galleries and studios, a small brewery or distillery, a gas station, a car wash, vehicle sales and service, a bus depot and taxi offices, printing, broadcasting and media studios, dry cleaners and laundromats, minor animal services, trade contractors' offices, parking, cannabis retail, mixed-use buildings; accessory buildings and a caretaker suite (s. 20.2)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

555 m², 15.0 m wide (s. 20.3)

Lot coverage

40% (s. 20.3)

Height limit

21.0 m (s. 20.3)

Setbacks

Main building: front 1.5 m, inside sides 0 m, street side 3.0 m, rear 1.5 m; on a lot next to a residential (R or RM) or park (P) zone, sides, street side and rear 6 m (ss. 20.3, 20.4.2). Accessory buildings follow the general rules (s. 4.18)

The zone is to allow and encourage retail (s. 20.1).

Cannabis retail only where the whole lot isn't within 200 m of a school or 100 m of a park; adult entertainment is prohibited in this zone (s. 4.2).

At most 1 shipping container or temporary storage structure, at the rear, screened from view with fencing and planting (s. 4.25).

Fences up to 1.2 m in front and 1.8 m at the sides and rear; no chain link in the front or flanking yards (s. 4.13). Unlike C-4, the zone isn't on the list of those fenced on three sides.

A caretaker suite: one per lot, only with a commercial or industrial use on it, walled off from the business; inside the main building it has its own outside entrance, shares the building's utility connections and is at most 40% of the building's floor area or 90 m², whichever is less (s. 4.19).

Short-term rental of a home isn't a listed use; hotels and motels are. Ask the City before renting a home here by the night.

Parking and loading (Section 5), landscaping, fencing and the other general regulations (Section 4) also apply.

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 Fort St. John's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 20 of City of Fort St. John Zoning Bylaw No. 2470, 2019 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Fort St. John.