C-4: Highway Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

No homes except one caretaker suite with a business on the lot (ss. 21.2.2, 4.19)

Exceptions (1)

• A house on one lot the bylaw names

Listed in s. 21.2.1(pp) of the bylaw.

Main uses

Shops and shopping centres, restaurants, pubs and liquor stores, hotels, motels and campgrounds, offices, personal services, vehicle, heavy equipment and tire sales and service, gas and service stations, car washes, bulk fuel sales, oilfield sales and services, contractors' yards and offices, warehouses, wholesale, mini-storage, delivery terminals, printing and publishing, broadcasting, labs, trade training, schools, recreation and amusement, auctions, minor animal services, art galleries and studios, a small brewery or distillery, food production, funeral services, dry cleaners and laundromats, bus depots and taxi offices, a recycling drop-off, parking, cannabis retail, adult entertainment; accessory buildings and a caretaker suite (s. 21.2)

Exceptions (2)

• A tank farm of at most 16 above-ground tanks, 200 m from one line, on one lot the bylaw names
• A health services facility on one other lot

Listed in ss. 21.2.2(c), 21.4.6 to 21.4.8 of the bylaw.

Smallest lot for a subdivision

555 m², 15.0 m wide (s. 21.3)

Lot coverage

50% (s. 21.3)

Height limit

21.0 m (s. 21.3)

Setbacks

Main building: front 1.5 m, inside sides 0 m, street side 3.0 m, rear 1.5 m; next to a residential or park zone, sides and rear 6 m (ss. 21.3, 21.4.3). Accessory buildings follow the general rules (s. 4.18)

The zone is for a range of commercial uses serving the city and the region (s. 21.1).

A lot with oilfield sales and services has an office for any outdoor storage yard (s. 21.4.4).

Cannabis retail only where the whole lot isn't within 200 m of a school or 100 m of a park; adult entertainment only where the whole lot isn't within 500 m of an institutional or residential use (s. 4.2).

At most 2 shipping containers or temporary storage structures, at the rear, screened from view (s. 4.25).

Fenced on at least three sides; fences up to 1.2 m in front and 1.8 m at the sides and rear (s. 4.13).

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; ask the City.

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 21 of City of Fort St. John Zoning Bylaw No. 2470, 2019 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Fort St. John.