C1: Local & Neighbourhood Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments above the ground floor (s. 14.9 note .6); no houses or townhouses

Main uses

Shops; restaurants and pubs (liquor primary licence), each at most 235 m² per lot; personal and professional services, health services, offices (not on the ground floor), minor animal clinics, child care, cultural and indoor recreation, religious assembly, emergency services, greenhouses and plant nurseries, recycling drop-offs, a gas bar, apartments; a cannabis store with the 'rcs' sub-zone, short-term rental without a resident operator with 'str'; a security or operator home, short-term rental by a resident, child care for up to 8

Smallest lot for a subdivision

830 m² to 1,500 m² (the zone sets a maximum too), 40 m wide (18 m beside a lane), 30 m deep (s. 14.10)

Lot coverage

50% for buildings; 70% for buildings, structures and hard surfaces (s. 14.11)

Height limit

3 storeys and 12 m; 0.75 FAR (s. 14.14)

Setbacks

Front and flanking 2 m (a garage, carport or parkade door facing the street 6 m from the curb or sidewalk or 4.5 m from the lot line, whichever is more); sides 3 m; rear 3 m (6 m next to land the OCP designates Core Area Neighbourhood or Education / Institutional) (s. 14.11)

Whether a drive-through is allowed on the lots the City's map marks C1 'dt-rcs': Section 14.9 lists no drive-throughs in C1, and Section 14.8 lists only the 'rcs' and 'str' sub-zones for it, so this is unclear; ask the City of Kelowna.

A gas bar must offer alternative fuel on the same lot (s. 14.9 note .12).

Shared and private outdoor space: 7.5 m² per studio, 15 m² per one-bedroom and 25 m² per larger home, at least 4 m² a home of it shared; 75 m² of the shared part indoors in a building of 25 homes or more (s. 14.11).

These minimum lot areas apply to lots connected to community sewer; without a sewer connection the minimum is 10,000 m² (s. 14.10 note .1).

Short-term rental (stays under 90 days, s. 5.3) is allowed as a minor use only: run by a principal resident who lives in the home more than 240 days a year (a suite or carriage house by a resident of the same lot); one booking per home at a time; up to three bedrooms of two adults each; on a lot with a house and a suite or carriage house, at most two homes and five bedrooms let this way (s. 9.10).

With the 'str' sub-zone, short-term rental without a resident operator (major) is a permitted use too; a lot with the 'r' rental-only sub-zone can't have it (s. 9.10).

Above the lesser of 16 m or four storeys, a building steps back 3 m from streets and neighbouring lots; buildings over 18 m or four storeys on a corner keep a 4.5 m triangle clear at the first storey; a continuous frontage is at most 100 m, with breaks past 37 m; accessory buildings stand at least 1.6 m from a residential zone (s. 14.11).

Buildings of 12 storeys or more (s. 9.11): a podium of 16 m at most, towers 30 m apart, floor plates above the sixth storey at most 750 m² for homes (850 m² hotels, 930 m² offices and shops), a 3 m stepback above the podium, no parking above 16 m.

Bonus density (s. 6.8): the extra floor area and height need one of: a housing agreement for affordable rental homes run by a non-profit at capped rents for households earning under 79% of Kelowna's median; an affordable-housing agreement with CMHC or BC Housing (MLI Select and similar); or a payment into the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund.

A cannabis store stands 500 m from another, 150 m from public elementary schools and from 21 listed parks (City Park, Waterfront Park and others), 500 m from public middle and secondary schools; one per lot; no drive-through (s. 9.9).

Accessory buildings may have one half bathroom of up to 3 m² (a full one only in a pool house) and no bedroom, and can't be a home (s. 6.9).

Fences up to 2.4 m; no barbed or razor wire; within 1.4 m of a building, not wood or vinyl (s. 7.5).

Parking (Table 8.3): minimums per main home depend on location. Outside the Core Area and away from frequent or medium transit, 1.25 spaces for a studio or one-bedroom home, 1.5 for two bedrooms and 2 for three or more; less in the Core Area and urban centres and near frequent transit; 0.14 visitor spaces per home from the seventh home; no residential minimum in a Transit Oriented Area (Maps 8.3.a to 8.3.d).

Every home given a parking space gets an energized outlet for Level 2 charging (75% fewer with the 'r' rental-only sub-zone; not needed for suites or carriage houses) (s. 8.2.17).

On a lot beside Highway 97 or Highway 33, buildings and structures stand 4.5 m from that lot line (s. 6.4).

Setbacks from streams and lakes are those of the official community plan's riparian management areas, measured from the top of bank (s. 6.5).

On a lot with three or more homes beside a watercourse or riparian area, the riparian management area (OCP Table 21.1) is dedicated to the City, plus 5 m where an OCP trail runs alongside.

Site-specific (s. 14.15, zone not named): extra commercial uses at 760 and 815 Vaughan Avenue, 810 Clement Avenue, 1171-1199 Gordon Drive and 907 Ethel Street (with apartments and child care); 15 storeys and 50 m at 3838 Capozzi Road; 18 storeys and 60 m at 3773-3795 Lakeshore Road; 2.35 FAR and 8 storeys at 155-179 Rutland Road North; a sales centre at 945 Guy Street; on Harvey Avenue (2061-2091) and Cooper Road (1840-1990) 1.5 FAR and 4 storeys, or 12 storeys and 37 m for apartments and hotels; no ground-floor commercial needed on Highway 33 at 135 Barber Road; religious assembly at 230-240 Lougheed Road; 300 m² of tasting room at 8999 Jim Bailey Road; a hotel at 860-1000 KLO Road; larger restaurants above the first storey at 675 and 683 Dease Road; boat storage at 9505 Haldane Road.

Sections 6 to 9 of the bylaw (general rules, landscaping and fences, parking, specific uses) also apply.

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 City of Kelowna's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: City of Kelowna Zoning Bylaw No. 12375 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Kelowna.