RR3: Rural Residential Three

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house and no cottage on a lot under 0.8 ha; a house and a cottage on 0.8 to 4 ha; two houses and two cottages on 4 ha or more (s. 5.1(2) to (4))

Main uses

Homes, cottages, agriculture; accessory uses, buildings and structures, among them home businesses and a stand selling produce grown on the lot (s. 5.1(1))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 5.1(10))

Height limit

9.2 m for houses and cottages (s. 3.4(1)); accessory buildings 7.6 m (s. 3.4(2)), farm buildings in the ALR up to 12.2 m where 7.6 m from every lot line (s. 3.7)

Setbacks

7.6 m from the front and rear lot lines, 3 m from the interior sides, 4.5 m from a side along a road (s. 5.1(7)); 15 m from the sea (s. 3.3)

The zones are South Pender's home zones, set apart by the size of the lots created (our reading of s. 5.1).

Floor area (s. 5.1(5)): all buildings 465 m² on a lot under 0.4 ha, 557 m² on 0.4 to 0.8 ha, 743 m² on 0.8 to 1.6 ha, 836 m² on 1.6 to 4 ha and 1,394 m² on 4 ha or more; a new house 279, 325, 372, 395 and 418 m² in the same bands; a house built before September 15, 2022 that is larger may be rebuilt to its size, up to a higher cap.

Cottage: up to 70 m² (s. 5.1(6)); a bed and breakfast may use it (s. 3.6(8)). Other accessory buildings up to 140 m² each (s. 5.1(8)), none lived in (s. 3.5(1)).

The bylaw doesn't list a secondary suite.

Short-term vacation rental (under 30 days) is defined in the bylaw but isn't listed as a home business (s. 3.6(1)) or a use of the zone, and only listed uses are allowed (s. 3.2): ask the Islands Trust before renting a home by the night.

Bed and breakfast (s. 3.6(8)): a home business with up to three guest bedrooms, in the house or a cottage, never an accessory building, breakfast only.

Home businesses (s. 3.6): crafts, repairs, professional and personal services and goods mostly made on the lot, run by someone living there, indoors or in a permitted accessory building, up to 65 m², two outside employees.

A new house in these zones needs an 18,000 L rainwater cistern (s. 3.14).

Water (s. 3.3): buildings 15 m from the sea and from fresh water, 30 m from water used for drinking; septic systems 30 m from a watercourse, well or drinking-water source. A building legally standing before September 15, 2022 within 15 m of the sea may be rebuilt no closer.

Up to one shipping container on a lot under 0.8 ha, two under 1.6 ha and three on a larger lot, screened from view (s. 3.5(6), (7)).

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 Islands Trust's office for the island before you buy or build.

Source: Section 5.1 of South Pender Island Land Use Bylaw No. 114, 2016 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.