MF3: Apartment Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Apartments, and stacked townhouses; townhouses only where most homes are apartments (s. 13.3 note .4); no houses or duplexes

Main uses

Apartments, stacked townhouses, townhouses; on Transit Supportive Corridors, on the first storey only: shops, restaurants, personal and professional services, health services, cultural and recreation services; indoor recreation, child care, urban agriculture, home-based businesses, short-term rental by a resident

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1,400 m², 30 m wide, 30 m deep (s. 13.4)

Lot coverage

65% for buildings; 85% for buildings, structures and hard surfaces (s. 13.5)

Height limit

18 m and 4 storeys at up to 1.55 FAR; on a lot fronting a Transit Supportive Corridor 22 m and 6 storeys, with 2.05 FAR at 5 storeys or more; houses, duplexes and townhouses 11 m and 3 storeys; accessory buildings 4.8 m (s. 13.6)

Setbacks

Front and flanking 3 m (2 m for commercial ground floors, and for ground-oriented homes whose first floor is at most 1.2 m above the curb, at least 11 m², behind a sidewalk and treed boulevard; a garage, carport or parkade door facing the street 6 m from the curb or sidewalk or 3 m from the lot line, whichever is more); sides 3 m; rear 4.5 m (3 m beside a rear lane; a parkade under 2.3 m tall with lane access 1.5 m); 1.5 m more on the sides (and for accessory buildings at the rear) next to land the OCP designates rural or suburban residential; accessory buildings 1.5 m from the rear (0.9 m beside a lane) (s. 13.5)

Buildings of 5 storeys or more with over 60 m of frontage step back 3 m above the first storey along 75% of the front (s. 13.5 note .6); a continuous frontage is at most 100 m.

Floor area adjustments: +0.3 FAR with the 'r' rental-only sub-zone, +0.25 FAR when 80% of the parking is underground.

Shared and private outdoor space (s. 13.5): none for 10 homes or fewer; for 11 to 20 homes 6 m² per studio, 10 m² per one-bedroom and 15 m² per larger home; for more than 20, 7.5, 15 and 25 m²; at least 4 m² a home shared (not for fee simple townhouses); 75 m² of it indoors in an apartment building of 25 homes or more.

Commercial uses (shops, restaurants, personal, professional and health services, cultural and recreation services) are allowed only on Transit Supportive Corridors and only on the first storey; offices aren't a listed use (s. 13.3 note .2).

A major home-based business is allowed only in a ground-oriented home on a transit supportive corridor or in an urban or village centre (s. 13.3 note .6).

On a lot fronting a Transit Supportive Corridor (and TS1 Area C lots) a minimum density applies: 4.75 homes per 1,000 m² on a lot of at least 1,050 m² with a lane, or 3.1 per 1,000 m² on at least 1,400 m² without; commercial floor counts as one home per 125 m² (s. 13.6).

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.

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).

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).

Home-based businesses (s. 9.2) are run by a resident who lives there more than 240 days a year, with no outdoor storage or work, no nuisance and no commercial vehicle over 5,500 kg. Minor: inside the home, residents only, one client at a time, up to 20 m² and 25% of the home. Major: in the home or one accessory building, one outside worker, two clients at a time, up to 50 m² and 25% of the home (no fixed cap, but at most half the home, in a ground-oriented home on a transit supportive corridor or in an urban or village centre); one parking space.

Child care for up to 8 children (minor) is run by a resident who lives there more than 240 days a year (s. 5.3).

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.

A lot on a Transit Supportive Corridor, major arterial or active transportation corridor may have to give land for road widening to half the width set by Bylaw No. 7900 (s. 13.5).

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).

Accessory buildings: at most 90 m² of footprint each, 4.8 m tall.

Fences up to 2.0 m, but 1.2 m within the front and flanking setbacks (3.0 m on the low side of a slope if no more than 2.0 m above the neighbour's ground); no barbed or razor wire; within 1.4 m of a building, not wood or vinyl (s. 7.5).

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).

Site-specific (s. 13.7, zone not named): hotels at 1915-1925 Enterprise Way; 16 storeys at 1132-1160 Bernard Avenue; apartments of up to 4 storeys at 530 Caramillo Court and in the MF2 part of 1691 Cara Glen Way, 3 storeys at 530 Quartz Crescent; three storeys of apartments over two of townhouses at 777 Denali Drive; smaller minimum lots at 920 Rutland Road North (770 m²), 2590 Richter Street (650 m²), 1451 Richter Street (601 m²) and on Lakeshore Road at 3593, 3577 and 3581 (1,700 m²); health services at 1498 Lombardy Square.

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.