RC: Country Residential Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house, plus either a secondary suite or one carriage house

Main uses

One house, farming; bed and breakfast, carriage house, secondary suite, minor, major or rural home occupation, short-term rental

Smallest lot for a subdivision

0.4 ha, 45 m wide

Lot coverage

15%

Height limit

Main building 11 m and 3 storeys; accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

Front 9 m, interior side 4 m, exterior side 6 m, rear 6 m

Residential accessory buildings together cover at most 200 m² (s. 9.3.2).

A carriage house on a lot without City sewer needs 1 ha (s. 8.2.3), more than the zone's 0.4 ha minimum.

On Lots 1 to 10, Plan KAS2711 (112 Penrose Court) and Lot 1, Plan KAP73860, only a house, a major home occupation and accessory buildings are allowed (no suite, carriage house, bed and breakfast or short-term rental), main buildings are 10.5 m at most, and the parent parcel's setbacks are front 10 m, interior side 4 m, exterior side 6 m, rear 7.5 m (s. 9.3.3).

At 1530 Reservoir Road (Sub Lot 10, DL 2711, Plan 1190) the front setback is 4.5 m (s. 9.3.3).

Secondary suites (s. 8.1): one per home, inside it with its own door to the outside; needs a community sewer connection unless the lot is at least 830 m² and meets the provincial sewerage rules; never titled or strata-lotted apart from the home; 5 m² of private outdoor space; no parking space required (Table 6.6).

Carriage houses here (s. 8.2): one per property and not together with a secondary suite in the house; only with or after the house; on a lot without municipal sewer the lot must be at least 1 ha (s. 8.2.3); footprint up to 150 m² or 15% of the lot, whichever is less, and floor area up to 150 m²; 7 m and two storeys tall; anywhere on the lot, with the house's setbacks except 1.5 m at the rear; 5 m² of outdoor space and a 1.2 m hard-surfaced path to the street; never titled or strata-lotted apart; side windows within 1.5 m of a neighbour are opaque.

Bed and breakfast (s. 7.2): only in a single detached house, with the licensed operator living there; up to four guest rooms of two guests each; the house keeps its residential look; one guest room counts as a minor home occupation. Parking: one space per guest room up to three, plus one for the home (Table 6.6).

Minor home occupations (s. 7.3): in the home, a suite, carriage house or accessory building; residents only; up to 25% of the home's floor area and 20 m²; one client visit and one commercial vehicle visit (8 am to 6 pm) a day; no outdoor storage or work; no vehicle repair, welding, cabinet making, manufacturing and similar uses.

Major home occupations (s. 7.4): as minor ones, but up to 25% of the home and 50 m² with any accessory building used, one employee from outside, two clients at a time, and one per property; parking: one space per business (Table 6.6).

Rural home occupations (s. 7.5): as major ones, but up to 100 m² of home and accessory building together, two employees from outside and six clients at a time; with more than one home, each may have one within those combined limits.

Short-term rental is a permitted use. The bylaw counts any stay of 90 days or less as short-term (s. 3.2), and requires a City business licence; only the property's principal resident may rent it out; at most two guests per bedroom and eight in all; no alterations that change the home's residential look; on a lot with a house and a secondary suite or carriage house, only one of the homes may be rented this way (ss. 3.2, 7.6).

Urban hens only on a lot with one single detached house (s. 7.7).

Accessory buildings go up only with or after the main building, stand behind its front face (those of 10 m² or less anywhere behind it), and can't be lived in except as a carriage house where allowed (ss. 4.2.1 to 4.2.4).

A garage or carport reached from the street stands 6 m from the curb or sidewalk, as does a driveway gate over 1.2 m (ss. 4.2.7, 4.2.8).

Fences and walls up to 1.2 m, or 1.8 m behind the front yard setback and in side and rear yards, or 2.4 m beside a controlled-access highway; nothing over 1.2 m in a corner visibility triangle; no barbed, electric or razor wire (ss. 4.3, 5.4.1). Retaining walls 1.2 m in required yards, 2.4 m elsewhere (s. 5.4.2).

One recreational vehicle may be parked outside per home, more only inside a building, and no vehicle over 5,600 kg unless it is enclosed (s. 6.1.1).

Metal storage containers only during construction under a building permit (s. 4.8.4).

Living in an RV on a lot is limited to 10 days in any 30 (s. 4.8.2).

No development within 30 m of a watercourse, or the smaller distance a Qualified Environmental Professional sets under the Riparian Areas Protection Regulation and the official community plan's development permit areas (s. 4.14).

No building inside an existing or future collector or arterial road right-of-way shown in the official community plan; setbacks from those roads are measured from the future road line (s. 4.6).

Nothing, cranes included, may rise above the Horizontal Surface of the federal Penticton Airport Zoning Regulations without federal approval (s. 4.5).

On land in the Agricultural Land Reserve, the Agricultural Land Commission Act and its regulations come first and generally restrict non-farm uses and subdivision (s. 4.13).

Every zone also allows public parks, utility services, urban agriculture, cultural exhibits and a minor day care (up to 8 children) (s. 4.12).

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 Penticton's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: City of Penticton Zoning Bylaw No. 2024-22 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Penticton.