RM-1: Multiple Dwelling Housing (Medium Density)

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments, townhouses, triplexes and fourplexes, at most 38 homes per hectare; a house on R-1's rules, or a duplex or semi-attached home on R-2's (ss. 14.2, 14.3). A secondary suite only with a house or duplex (s. 4.20); detached suites are listed, but the bylaw's cap of two names other zones (s. 4.21), so how many a lot here may have is unclear: ask the City

Main uses

An apartment, a fourplex, a townhouse, a triplex, a house (as R-1), a duplex or semi-attached home (as R-2); accessory buildings, detached suites, a secondary suite, a home office. A home business and bed and breakfast aren't listed uses here (s. 14.2)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

900 m², 24.0 m wide for buildings up to 10.5 m (3 storeys); the table sets no lot area for a taller building, so that is unclear: ask the City (s. 14.3)

Lot coverage

40% (s. 14.3)

Height limit

14 m and 4 storeys (s. 14.3). A fourplex is two storeys at most (its definition, s. 3); main building 6.4 m wide at least; accessory buildings two storeys and 7.0 m, or the main building's height if lower (s. 4.18)

Setbacks

Townhouses: front 7.5 m, interior sides 1.5 m, flanking side 3.0 m, rear 7.5 m. Triplexes, fourplexes and apartments: front 7.5 m, interior sides and flanking side 4.5 m, rear 7.5 m (s. 14.3)

The City keeps this zone for existing lots and doesn't want it for new development (s. 14.1).

Townhouses generally face the road and keep at least 50% of the front yard open (ss. 14.3, 14.4). A house, duplex or semi-attached home follows R-1's or R-2's rules (s. 14.2); whether that includes their smaller lot size is unclear: ask the City.

A development of 4 or more homes needs amenity space: at least one outdoor feature (trails, a deck or balcony for every home, a sport area, or garden beds) and one shared one (a kitchen, games room, fitness room, playground or pool, with washrooms where the bylaw says) (s. 4.14). Multiple dwelling housing is built to the bylaw's accessible design rules (s. 4.15).

Lots here may be in a development permit area, whose guidelines then apply (s. 14.4).

A secondary suite: one per house or duplex unit, at most 90 m² or 40% of the home's habitable floor area, whichever is less, built to the BC Building Code's suite rules, never subdivided or strata-titled, and not inside a detached suite (s. 4.20).

Detached suites (a home in a building of its own) only where there is a main home, and allowed inside an accessory building such as a garage (s. 4.21).

Accessory buildings: built only with or after the main home, not in the front yard, 1.0 m from interior side lines, 3.0 m from a street side, 1.5 m from the rear line and from other buildings, 0.3 m more at the side and rear for each metre over 7.0 m high; at most two storeys and 7.0 m or the main home's height, whichever is less; all of them together at most 10% of the lot or 90 m², whichever is less, in materials and colours like the main home's (s. 4.18). The bylaw counts detached suites among accessory buildings (s. 4.18.1), so the floor area cap appears to include them (our reading).

Home occupations: only a home office is listed here, with a business licence and a resident operator, at most 25 m², no customers and no outside employees (s. 4.22).

Commercial temporary accommodation (rooms for the travelling public for 30 days or less) is prohibited in residential zones (s. 4.2.6, definitions in s. 3), so renting a home by the night isn't allowed here; 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 14 of City of Fort St. John Zoning Bylaw No. 2470, 2019 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Fort St. John.