M1: Light Industrial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

A security or operator suite; with the City's approval, one home per industrial unit or bay

Main uses

Light manufacturing, machine and welding shop, machinery repair and sales, warehouse, indoor storage, delivery, transportation and logistics, bus depot, vehicle sales, services, storage and towing, building supply, fuel sales, metal recycling and recycling depot, mobile and modular home sales, crematorium, film studio, technology centre, greenhouse, outdoor garden centre, craft brewery, winery, artisan studio, auction house, indoor recreation, veterinary services; with the City's approval, a restaurant or storage yard

Smallest lot for a subdivision

450 m², 15 m wide, 30 m deep

Lot coverage

75%

Height limit

22 m; accessory buildings 16 m

Setbacks

3 m from every lot line

Coverage can rise to 90% with permeable driveways or paths on 15% of the lot.

All uses are carried on inside a building (s. 7.21.7).

Cardlock fuel pumps stay 17 m from the centre line of a controlled-access highway.

Buildings and objects stay below Transport Canada's obstacle limitation surfaces for Merritt's airport (s. 7.21.6).

A security or operator suite is one home inside the main building for a caretaker, operator or security staff, one per property (s. 2.2).

The bylaw doesn't allow short-term rental (stays under 30 days) in this zone (s. 4.34.1).

Shipping containers for storage, vented and labelled, screened and kept in the back or side yard: one per 0.2 ha, stacked two high at most (s. 4.19).

Fences up to 2.5 m (s. 4.14).

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.

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

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.