R: Rural

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house, one secondary suite and one cottage at most (s. 5.3(2)); the cottage only on a lot of 1.2 ha or more (s. 5.3(3))

Main uses

A house, a cottage, agriculture, a secondary suite; home business, home industry (on a lot of 2 ha or more, s. 3.8), pig farming, dog breeding and boarding kennels on a lot over 1.2 ha (s. 5.3(1), (11))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

0.6 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 5.3(13), (14))

Lot coverage

25% (s. 5.3(7))

Height limit

Homes and cottages 9.7 m (s. 3.4(1)); other buildings 4.6 m and one storey (s. 3.4(3)); farm buildings where agriculture is a principal use 10 m and two storeys within 30 m of a lot line, 15 m farther in (s. 3.4(2))

Setbacks

7.6 m from the front and rear lot lines, 6.1 m from the sides (s. 5.3(5)); 3 m more from a lot line beside the Agricultural zone (s. 5.3(6))

The zone is for houses, farming and home industries on larger rural lots (our reading of its uses and lot sizes).

Where a home of 56 m² or less stood on September 23, 1999 on a lot of 0.6 ha or more, one more house is allowed (s. 5.3(4)).

Cottage: up to 80 m², 90 m² in the ALR (s. 5.3(9)).

Floor area caps (s. 5.3(8)): all buildings but a suite 500 m² on a lot under 0.4 ha, 1,000 m² on 0.4 to 1.2 ha, 3,000 m² on a larger lot; the house 325, 372 and 418 m² in the same bands, and 500 m² for the house on 16 ha or more. An older, larger house may be rebuilt to its size.

Home industry (s. 3.8): boat building, vehicle repair, sawmilling, contractor yards and a few more, one per lot of 2 ha or more, up to 185 m² of buildings and 930 m² of outdoor storage, 50 m from the lot lines and 30 m from water, screened, weekdays 8 am to 8 pm.

A lot of 8 ha or more keeps a 3 m strip of native vegetation along two lot lines (s. 5.3(12), s. 3.9(3)).

Secondary suite (s. 3.10): one per lot, inside the building that holds the house, up to 90 m² and 40% of the house, with its own outside door; never strata-titled, never a short-term rental or a bed and breakfast; off a community water system, an 18,000 L rainwater system first.

Short-term vacation rental (under a month) of the house or the cottage is a home business (its definition; s. 3.7): one of them per lot at a time, with the operator or someone responsible for it living in a home on the lot (s. 3.7(4), (11)).

Bed and breakfast (s. 3.7(8)): a home business in the house or cottage, up to six guests in three bedrooms, one parking space per guest bedroom.

Home businesses (s. 3.7): indoors, up to 65 m² besides a short-term rental (100 m² in the ALR), up to four outside employees with one of the employees living on the lot, no noise heard at the lot line.

A new home or cottage off a community water system needs an 18,000 L cistern (s. 3.11).

Water (s. 3.3): no building, structure or fill within 15 m of the sea or 1.5 m above it, nor 7.6 m of a lake, wetland or stream.

Lettered site-specific zones R(a) to R(d) add uses or change lot sizes for the lands the table in s. 5.3(15) 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 5.3 of North Pender Island Land Use Bylaw No. 224, 2022 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.