R: Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One single-family home per lot (ss. 3.5.1, 8.1.1) and one auxiliary guest cottage of up to 37 m² for non-paying visitors (ss. 3.8, 8.1.1)

Main uses

A single-family home, an auxiliary guest cottage, home-based businesses and accessory buildings (s. 8.1.1); public utilities, navigational aids and passive outdoor recreation, as in every zone (s. 3.1.1). Farming for sale and keeping livestock are listed for the Rural Residential zone only (s. 8.1.1)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

0.5 ha, with its own septic system and a community water connection (s. 5.2.1)

Lot coverage

20% (s. 8.1, density table)

Height limit

7.5 m and two storeys (s. 3.3.1); accessory buildings 4.6 m (s. 3.3.2)

Setbacks

7.5 m from the front and rear lot lines, 3 m from the interior sides, 4.5 m from a side along a road (s. 4.2.1); 7.5 m from the sea, 15 m on land under 3 m above it (s. 4.3.1)

Auxiliary guest cottage (s. 3.8 and its definition): one per lot, detached, up to 37 m² (it may be a mobile or manufactured home), for visitors who live elsewhere, staying free of charge for recreation, each for no more than 45 days a year and 30 in a row (the definition of temporary).

Short-term rental (ss. 3.5.2, 3.8.3): no home may be used for commercial guest accommodation, that is renting to travellers or vacationers, and the guest cottage is for non-paying guests only, so neither the house nor the cottage may be rented by the night. Guest accommodation isn't among the home-based businesses allowed (s. 3.7.6), so no bed and breakfast either (our reading).

Home-based businesses (s. 3.7): run by someone living on the lot, indoors in the home, the cottage or an enclosed accessory building, up to 30% of the home's floor area and 50 m², one employee from off the lot, nothing showing outside but a sign, no noise over 40 dB at the lot line; only crafts and food products, sales of what's made on the lot, classes, personal services, small repairs, offices, cabinet and furniture making, and boat building in an approved building.

Accessory buildings (s. 3.6): all together up to 37 m², the guest cottage not counted (s. 3.6.4); 3 m from other buildings (ss. 3.6.5, 4.1.1); no kitchen, bathtub, shower (bar a sauna or pool house) or more than three rooms, and nobody living in them (ss. 3.6.2, 3.6.3). Outdoor storage up to 5% of the lot (s. 3.4.2).

Sea (s. 4.3): no building within 7.5 m of the natural boundary of the sea, or 15 m where the land is under 3 m above it, and no fill there; floors used for living or storage 1.5 m above any water within 30 m (s. 4.3.3); septic fields 16.5 m from the sea (s. 4.4.1). Projections such as eaves and decks may reach into lot line setbacks, never the sea setback (s. 4.5.2).

Docks: the shoreline zones in front of the lot (S1, S2) allow non-commercial moorage and wharfage for the upland lot; in S1 a float up to 60 m², a wharf, walkway or ramp up to 3 m wide, structures up to 4 m high, reaching out only as far as 3 m of water depth needs, and no boat shed or other building on a float or wharf (ss. 8.2.1, 8.2.2). No one may live on a moored vessel (ss. 3.2.1(7), 3.9.1), and personal watercraft can't be rented or launched for hire (s. 3.2.1(6)).

Subdivision (Part 5): new lots of 0.5 ha in this zone, each with its own septic system and a connection to a community water supply (s. 5.2.1); a boundary adjustment can't add lots or leave one without a 7.5 m by 7.5 m building site (s. 5.3).

Signs: one per lot, up to 0.4 m², not lit (s. 6.1, Table 2).

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 8.1 of Piers Island Land Use Bylaw, 2001 (Bylaw No. 373) (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.