RR: Rural Residential

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house and one sleeping cabin on a lot under 0.8 ha; one house and one accessory guest cottage on 0.8 to 8 ha; two houses on 8 ha or more (s. 4.4.9). One more house on a lot of 2 ha or more where a conservation covenant or public trail right of way is given to the committee's satisfaction, and two houses per strata lot of 1 ha or more in a bare land strata averaging 4 ha with such a covenant or trail (s. 4.4.10)

Main uses

A house, home occupations, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, agriculture on lots over 2 ha, utilities, natural parks and conservation; a boathouse on lots over 2 ha; moorage for the home's own boats (s. 4.4.1 to 4.4.3)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1 ha, and 4 ha on average (s. 4.4.20, 4.4.21)

Lot coverage

25% for all buildings and structures together (s. 4.4.19)

Height limit

11 m (ss. 4.4.18, 2.8.1); a boathouse 4.6 m (s. 4.4.18)

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. 4.4.17, 2.7.4); 7.5 m from the sea (s. 2.7.3)

Sizes (s. 4.4.13 to 4.4.16): an accessory guest cottage up to 95 m², a sleeping cabin up to 37.2 m² with no kitchen and for guests who don't pay (definition of sleeping cabin), one boathouse up to 25 m² (s. 4.4.12).

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. 4.4.6 to 4.4.11, 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 4.4 of Keats Island Land Use Bylaw No. 78, 2002 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-11); zone map: Open Government Licence – Islands Trust.