R: Rural

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home, and one more for every 4 ha of lot over 4 ha (s. 5.5(2)); a cottage with each home on a lot of 1 ha or more (s. 5.5(3)); a secondary suite where the Schedule D map allows (s. 5.5(6))

Main uses

Homes, cottages, agriculture, silviculture; accessory uses, buildings and structures such as home occupations (s. 5.5(1))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 5.5(12), (13))

Lot coverage

10% (s. 5.5(5))

Height limit

9 m for homes, cottages and accessory buildings (s. 5.5(10), (11))

Setbacks

8 m from the front, the rear and a side along a road, 3 m from the interior sides (s. 5.5(8)); feeding troughs and manure piles 8 m from every lot line (s. 5.5(9)); 7.5 m from the sea (s. 3.3)

The zone is for areas where homes and farming on larger lots predominate (s. 5.5's purpose).

Cottage: up to 93 m² (s. 5.5(7)).

Accessory buildings other than cottages, utility sheds and woodsheds (s. 5.5(4)): two on a lot of 0.2 ha or less, three under 0.4 ha, four under 4 ha, and any number on a larger lot.

On lots the bylaw's Schedule E map shows, more homes (s. 5.5(3.1)): under 0.6 ha a second home if all homes are 232 m² or less together; 0.6 to 1.2 ha two homes and a cottage within 325 m²; 1.2 to 5 ha three homes and a cottage within 436 m²; each extra home with a 13,640 L rainwater cistern, an RV or tiny home on wheels not counting, one bed and breakfast a lot, and no house rented short term.

Secondary suite (s. 3.13): one per lot, only on lots in the shaded area of the bylaw's Schedule D map; inside the building that holds the house, with its own outside door, up to 93 m² and half the house, a 13,640 L rainwater cistern, never strata-titled, no home occupation in it. On a lot under 4 ha outside the Schedule E area, a suite or a cottage, not both.

Short-term rental (s. 3.6): a cottage may be rented to guests for under a month as a home occupation, one cottage per lot at a time, run by someone living in the house; the bylaw's residential use leaves out vacation rental, so the house itself isn't rented by the night (its definitions of residential use and short term vacation rental).

Bed and breakfast (s. 3.6): a home occupation with up to three bedrooms and eight guests, breakfast only.

Home occupations (s. 3.6): run by someone living in the house, up to 95 m², two outside employees, nothing showing outside but a sign; contractor yards with screening and limits on lots under 2 ha.

A new home or suite needs a rainwater cistern: 18,000 L, or 13,640 L for one of 93 m² or less (s. 3.15).

Water (s. 3.3): no building within 7.5 m of the sea or a watercourse, and habitable floors 1.5 m above its natural boundary.

Lettered site-specific zones R(a) to R(i) add uses (campgrounds, community water works, a veterinary clinic, a music festival) or change homes or lot sizes for the lands the table in s. 5.5(14) names.

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 5.5 of Mayne Island Land Use Bylaw No. 146, 2008 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.