CR1: Community Residential 1

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house and one sleeping cabin per lot (s. 4.1.9); the sleeping cabin up to 18.6 m², with no kitchen, for guests who don't pay (s. 4.1.12 and the definition of sleeping cabin)

Main uses

A house, home occupations, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, utilities, natural parks and conservation; moorage for the home's own boats (s. 4.1.1, 4.1.2)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4 ha (s. 4.1.17)

Lot coverage

33% for all buildings and structures together (s. 4.1.16)

Height limit

11 m for the house (ss. 4.1.14, 2.8.1); 4.6 m for accessory buildings (s. 4.1.15)

Setbacks

5 m from the front lot line, 1.5 m from the rear and interior sides, 3 m from a side along a road (ss. 4.1.13, 2.7.4); 7.5 m from the sea (s. 2.7.3)

Accessory buildings other than the sleeping cabin may have a sink but no toilet, bath or shower (s. 2.1.6), and none but the sleeping cabin may be lived in (s. 2.1.5).

The 4 ha smallest new lot is far larger than most lots in the zone, so few can be subdivided (our reading).

Short-term rental (s. 2.2.11 and the definitions of residential and vacation rental): renting a house, cottage, sleeping cabin or other building by the day, week or any stay under a month to visitors who live elsewhere is a vacation rental, which the bylaw leaves out of residential use and bars as a home occupation, along with bed and breakfast and other paid visitor accommodation (s. 2.2.11). Neither zone lists it, so short-term rental isn't allowed (our reading); ask the Islands Trust.

Home occupations (s. 2.2): run by someone living on the lot, inside a home or accessory building (outdoor storage screened), up to 65 m² in all with 14 m² for selling what is made on the lot, up to two full-time people working there, at least one living there; no restaurant, store or visitor accommodation; no contractor's yard or stored heavy machinery on a lot under 4 ha (s. 2.2.6). A commercial sawmill needs a temporary use permit (s. 8.1).

Water (s. 2.7.3, 2.7.7): no building or structure within 7.5 m of the sea's natural boundary, bar a platform of up to 5 m² and stairs or a walkway to the shore or a dock; no septic tank or field within 30 m of a watercourse, a well or a drinking water source. The bylaw sets no general building setback from a stream or lake; the development permit areas below cover those.

Docks (s. 4.1.6 to 4.1.10, 2.7.5, 2.7.6): one per waterfront lot, floats up to 47 m², or up to 154 m² shared between lots under a covenant and easement; within the lot's side lines projected seaward, 5 m in from them, and 10 m from any other dock; no building on a float or dock.

Development permit areas the Keats Island Official Community Plan maps (riparian areas, streamside protection and the shoreline) need a permit before building, clearing land or subdividing there (Part 9).

Living on the lot while building (s. 2.1.3, 2.1.4): with a building permit for the house in force, one accessory building, sleeping cabin, guest cottage, travel trailer or RV may be lived in, with water and sewage the Medical Health Officer accepts. No float homes (s. 2.1.2), and no living aboard a moored boat (s. 2.1.1).

Subdivision (Part 7): each new lot's frontage at least 10% of its perimeter and never under 30 m, no deeper than five times its width (s. 7.4); a lot for a relative only from a lot of 20 ha or more (s. 7.3); each new lot shows room for a septic system (s. 7.8); covenants against further subdivision where a new lot is twice the average or more (s. 7.6).

Parking: one space per home, and one per home occupation employee from off the lot, where the lot is reached by a constructed public road (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 4.1 of Keats Island Land Use Bylaw No. 78, 2002 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.