A1: Agriculture 1

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home on a lot under 4 ha, two on a lot of 4 ha or more (s. 8.5(2)); a secondary suite in a home on a lot of 2 ha or more (s. 8.5(1)(d)); in the ALR a second home or a suite may also need the Agricultural Land Commission's approval (s. 8.5's information note)

Main uses

Residential use of a home, agriculture, silviculture, a secondary suite on 2 ha or more, vacation home rental, accessory uses such as home occupations (s. 8.5(1)); in the ALR, farm use, and other uses only as the ALR rules or the Commission allow (s. 8.5(7) to (9))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

16 ha (s. 8.5(6))

Lot coverage

10% on a lot of 1 ha or more, 15% on a smaller lot (s. 8.5(3))

Height limit

8 m; 7 m within 100 m of the sea; accessory buildings 6 m (s. 3.4); farm buildings 10 m (s. 3.4(4))

Setbacks

8 m from every lot line (s. 8.5(4)); 15 m from the sea (s. 3.3); buildings for commercial mushrooms, commercial livestock or more than 100 birds 30 m from roads, lot lines and water (s. 3.3(10))

The zone is for farmland, most of it in the Agricultural Land Reserve (our reading of its uses and its ALR rules).

Accessory buildings other than farm buildings: up to 200 m² together (s. 8.5(5)); the zone sets no limit on the home's floor area.

In the ALR, a licensed winery's or cidery's shop and lounge up to 20 m² each, the lounge open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (s. 8.5(7)); a temporary sawmill only for timber cut on the lot (s. 8.5(9)).

Where a lot lies partly in this zone, the home allowed for that part may be built on another part of the lot (s. 3.14(2)).

Secondary suite (s. 3.8): needs a siting and use permit, must be wholly inside the house, lived in by the owner or a residential tenant, up to 40% of the house's floor area and 90 m², with one more parking space and a letter that the septic system can take it; not allowed on lots over the aquifer the Official Community Plan's Schedule D2 marks as heavily developed and highly vulnerable.

The bylaw has no guest cottage, and no accessory building may be lived in (s. 3.2(1)(c)); housing for a relative or caregiver beside the house needs a temporary use permit (s. 10.2(6)).

Short-term (vacation home) rental (s. 3.7 and its definition in s. 1.1): a listed use here, but only while an owner or tenant who ordinarily lives in the home is away, lives in another lawful home on the lot, or is an owner living there seasonally; paying guests only from May to September, except that on a lot allowed two homes one may be rented at any time while an owner or tenant lives in the other; one guest party in any seven days; up to two beds a bedroom and three bedrooms on a lot under 1 ha (four on a larger one); a sign with a contact's name and phone number while it's rented; no guests in tents or RVs (s. 3.2(1)(d)). Rentals outside these limits need a temporary use permit (s. 10.2(9)).

Bed and breakfast (ss. 3.6(9), 3.6(37) to (41)): a home occupation on lots of 0.1 ha or more, in the home itself, up to two beds a bedroom and one guest bedroom on a lot of 0.25 ha or less, two up to 1 ha, three on a larger lot; breakfast only.

Home occupations (s. 3.6), by lot size: under 0.1 ha only studios not open to the public, offices and mail order, inside the home, residents only, up to 65 m²; 0.1 to 2 ha a wider list (B&B, studios with sales, personal services, day care, repair, trades offices, food processing and others), two per lot, up to 80 m², two outside full-time-equivalent employees; 2 ha or more also vehicle and boat repair, storage, a winery with picnicking and, over 4 ha, sawmilling, two per home, up to 150 m², six employees. Restaurants and retail stores are never home occupations.

Water (s. 3.3): no building or structure within 15 m of the sea, a lake or a watercourse, nor less than 1.5 m above it; 30 m from Ford Creek, Beulah Creek and the wetlands on the bylaw's Schedule D; 15 m from a cliff edge (10 m with a geotechnical engineer's sign-off); septic fields, manure, feeding troughs and animal buildings 30 m from any well, lake, watercourse or the sea.

Animals (s. 3.2(1)(v), s. 3.3(8) to (10)): no commercial raising of animals or poultry on lots under 1 ha; no livestock or birds kept within 15 m of the sea or a watercourse; animal buildings, troughs and manure 15 m from lot lines.

Subdividing for a relative's residence under the Local Government Act needs a lot of 8 ha or more unless the whole lot is in the ALR (s. 6.5).

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 8.5 of Hornby Island Land Use Bylaw No. 150, 2014 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.