CD2-RC: Comprehensive Development – Gateway 286

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Up to 450 homes in all: 300 in sub-area A (houses, duplexes, townhouses up to 90 per hectare, apartments up to 90 per hectare) and 150 in sub-area B, which adds a hotel or motel; secondary suites (sub-area A) and detached secondary dwellings

Main uses

Sub-area A: houses, duplexes, townhouses, apartments, park; bed and breakfast, small daycare, detached secondary dwelling, home-based business, secondary suite, urban agriculture; short-term rental with the City's approval. Sub-area B: the same homes plus hotel, motel, and shops, restaurants, pubs, brewing, liquor and cannabis stores, offices and services, recreation and short-term rental alongside them

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4,000 m² for a block in a phased subdivision; then 112.5 m², 7.5 m wide for a house, 180 m² for a duplex, 225 m² for townhouses, 360 m² for apartments; 2.4 ha for a hotel or motel

Lot coverage

85% on lots under 400 m², 65% on bigger ones; hotels and motels 70%

Height limit

Houses and duplexes 14 m or 3 storeys, townhouses 18 m or 4, apartments 22 m or 5, hotels and motels 25 m or 6

Setbacks

Houses and duplexes: front 5 m (3 m with lane access; front or rear 3 m with no driveway), interior sides 1.2 m, exterior side 1.5 m (2.8 m for duplexes and lane-access corners), rear 3 m (5 m for a house with lane access). Townhouses: front 5 m (3 m with lane access), rear 3 m (5 m with lane access or back to back). Apartments: front 0 m, rear 3 m (0.9 m with lane access). Hotels and motels: front 10 m, interior sides 3 m, exterior side 10 m, rear 30 m

The bylaw text calls this zone CD2-XX: 26.1 ha at 2320 Hamilton Hill Road in two sub-areas, A (about 22.5 ha of low-to-medium density homes) and B (about 3.7 ha of mixed use). Which sub-area a lot is in is shown on the plan in s. 7.29.20, not on the zoning map.

Coverage can rise to 95% on lots under 400 m² and 75% on bigger ones with permeable driveways or paths on 10% of the lot; hotels and motels to 85% with 15%.

Townhouse buildings hold 3 to 8 homes; homes in sub-area B have an entrance apart from any business.

Secondary suites and detached secondary dwellings together (s. 4.36): up to 3 on a lot of 280 m² or less; on a bigger lot 4, or one per main home if that is more.

Secondary suites (s. 4.37) sit inside a house, half of a duplex or a townhouse behind a vertical fire separation, are no bigger than the home they belong to, and are rented a month or more at a time; not in the same building as a bed and breakfast or short-term rental. One more parking space for up to two accessory homes, half a space for each more (Table 5.18).

Detached secondary dwellings (s. 4.38) are smaller than the main building, stand 3 m from it and from each other, share its City water and sewer connections, and are lived in only once the main building has its occupancy permit. A suite in the main building is registered with the City before one is built.

Bed and breakfast (s. 4.33), in a house: up to four guest rooms, the owner or operator living there at least 180 days a year, guests staying up to 30 days in a row and 90 a year, and not in a building with a suite or short-term rental. One more parking space per guest room (Table 5.18).

In sub-area A, short-term rental (stays under 30 days) needs the City's approval as a discretionary use first (ss. 4.5, 4.34), then a business licence shown on site, written permission from the strata council in a strata, guests staying up to 30 days in a row and 90 days a year, and not in a home with an occupied suite or a bed and breakfast. A detached secondary dwelling may hold one (s. 4.38.5). In sub-area B it is allowed without that approval (s. 7.29.15).

Home-based businesses (s. 4.32), with a business licence: up to 40% of the home's floor area (25% with a bed and breakfast), run by people who live there with at most one outside employee, no outside storage, no deliveries by commercial vehicle and at most two clients at a time.

Duplex and townhouse units that share a lot line need no side setback there, and their lane garages none where they share one; a townhouse lot for separate ownership can be as small as 78 m² and 3.9 m wide; corner units face the side street.

More than one main building may stand on a lot, 3 m apart (s. 4.35).

An accessory building can't be a home, a suite or a short-term rental (s. 4.16), and goes up only with or after the main building.

Fences and hedges up to 1.25 m between the street and the front of the house and within 3 m of the front lot line, 2 m elsewhere; no barbed wire. A 6 m sight triangle at a corner stays clear above 1.25 m (ss. 4.14, 4.15).

Driveways are at most 3 m wide at the lot line (no limit off a lane), slope at most 15%, and a lot has one front access plus one from a lane, or one per home for duplexes, townhouses and detached secondary dwellings (s. 4.8).

On a lot averaging a 15% slope or more, buildings rise no higher than 7 m above the street centreline's level at the middle of the lot (lots below the street) or above the middle of the rear lot line (lots above it), and no wall rises more than 9 m from the lowest finished grade (s. 4.21).

Modular buildings built to CSA A277 can be homes or other buildings (s. 4.46).

Minimum lot sizes apply to new lots; an existing smaller lot stays lawful (s. 4.6).

Building and bare land stratas are allowed; suites and detached secondary dwellings follow the strata's bylaws (s. 4.44).

Every zone also allows public utilities, electric vehicle charging, and temporary site buildings and containers during construction (s. 4.2).

Floodplain (s. 4.30, Schedule B): land below the Province's 200-year flood level of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, or less than 1.5 m above any other watercourse, is floodplain. Floors of homes, businesses and storage there sit at least 0.6 m above that level, and fill stays 30 m from the rivers and other watercourses unless a riparian assessment allows it. Setbacks from streams follow provincial and federal rules (s. 4.24).

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 Merritt's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: City of Merritt Zoning Bylaw No. 2284, 2020 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – Thompson-Nicola Regional District.