R6(a): Residential 6 (variant a)

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home per lot and no duplexes (s. 9.9.4 (23), (25)), with no more than 268 homes on all the land in this variant (s. 9.9.4 (26)); a secondary suite inside the house where the lot is in the Schedule I area (s. 3.16; whether the one-home limit leaves room for it is unclear, though s. 3.16.2 lets a home contain one); the zone doesn't list a seasonal cottage

Main uses

A house, public services; a medical or dental office for up to two practitioners, a school, pre-school or day care, a hospital or public health care, a community hall, outdoor non-commercial recreation, a church; an indoor public recreation facility and a public health clinic; home-based business (ss. 9.9.1, 9.9.4 (24))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

Set by block on the bylaw's Schedule C map (s. 9.9.4 (27)): blocks A and B 0.2 ha on community water (0.46 and 0.4 ha on average); blocks C to G with a well and septic, C 1.2 ha (2 ha on average), D 250 ha, E 0.2 ha (0.57 ha on average), F 0.4 ha (0.85 ha on average), G 0.5 ha (1.4 ha on average); every lot on its own septic

Lot coverage

33% (s. 9.9.2)

Height limit

7.6 m and two storeys (s. 3.8.1); accessory buildings 6 m on a lot of 1.2 ha or less, 7 m on a larger one (s. 3.8.2)

Setbacks

7.5 m from the front and rear lot lines and from a road access easement, 3 m from the interior sides, 4.5 m from a side along a road (s. 4.3.1); a day care needs a lot of 2 ha (s. 9.9.2)

The variant is Residential 6 with one house per lot, a cap on homes across the area it covers, and lot sizes set by block (s. 9.9.4 (23) to (28)).

A block's edge on Schedule C may shift to fit lots larger than the block's average, if at least a tenth of each new lot is in the block and the block grows by 10% at most (s. 9.9.4 (28)).

Secondary suite (s. 3.16): one per lot, only where the lot is in the shaded area of the bylaw's Schedule I map; inside the building that holds the house, with its own outside door, up to 90 m², the owner or a resident manager living in the house or the suite, never strata-titled, and enough water shown for it.

Renting to travellers (commercial guest accommodation) isn't a use this zone lists, and a seasonal cottage may be rented to guests only as part of a bed and breakfast (s. 3.14.6); the bylaw's note to s. 3.16 says short-term vacation rentals aren't permitted in residential areas. Ask the Islands Trust before renting a home by the night.

Bed and breakfast (ss. 3.13.7, 3.13.8): a home-based business, one per lot, in the house or a seasonal cottage, with up to three guest bedrooms on a lot of 1.2 ha or less and four on a larger one, guest space up to half the floor area and 100 m², breakfast the only meal.

Home-based business (s. 3.13): run by someone living there, indoors, up to half the homes' floor area and 70 m² on a lot of 1.2 ha or less (150 m² on a larger one), with up to three outside employees (four on a larger lot) and nothing showing outside but a sign.

No home over 500 m² of floor area (s. 3.11.5), with one kitchen per home and all its rooms joined inside, so a house can't work as two (ss. 3.11.3, 3.11.4).

Accessory buildings: at most 70 m² in all on a lot of 1.2 ha or less and 185 m² on a larger one (one under 25 m² not counted), with no kitchen, shower or bath (ss. 3.12.4, 3.12.5); none may be lived in unless the bylaw allows it (s. 3.12.3).

Water (ss. 4.4, 4.5): no building within 15 m of the sea, a lake or a stream (10 m from the sea where an engineer certifies the shore won't erode), habitable floors 1.5 m above any water within 30 m; septic fields 30 m from the sea and most water, 60 m from ten named lakes such as St. Mary, Cusheon and Maxwell and the streams feeding them.

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 9.9 of Salt Spring Island Land Use Bylaw, 1999 (Bylaw No. 355) (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.