RC1: Residential Care Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Care housing only: community care facilities licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act

Main uses

Community care facilities (major, minor and specialized); accessory buildings

Smallest lot for a subdivision

600 m², 20 m wide, 30 m deep

Lot coverage

60%

Height limit

14 m or 3 storeys

Setbacks

Front 6 m, sides 3 m, rear 6 m; accessory buildings 1.2 m from side and rear lot lines

Coverage can rise to 75% with permeable driveways or paths on 15% of the lot.

Each home gets private outdoor space, and 5% of the lot is open space.

No home-based businesses in this zone (s. 4.32.1).

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

No shipping containers for storage (s. 4.19.4).

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).

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.