RM1: Bareland Strata Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Houses, duplexes and townhouses in a bare land strata, up to 40 homes per hectare of the parent parcel; secondary suites

Main uses

Houses, duplexes, townhouses; secondary suite, minor home occupation, short-term rental

Smallest lot for a subdivision

Parent parcel 6,000 m², 40 m wide (no size set for the strata lots)

Lot coverage

50% of each strata lot

Height limit

Main buildings 8.5 m; accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

4.5 m from every line of the parent parcel (none set for the strata lots)

The zone lists "single-family dwellings", a term the bylaw doesn't define; we read it as houses.

At 1760 Carmi Avenue (Lot 2, DLs 2710 and 3821S, Plan 26850) no townhouses (s. 10.3.3).

At 2990 Partridge Drive (Lot A, DL 2710, Plan EPP108577) and at 850 Wiltse Boulevard and 160 Crow Place (Lot B, DL 2710, Plan 43260 except Plans KAP72732 and EP74771; Lot A, DL 2710, Plan KAP70035) no duplexes or townhouses, and main buildings up to 10.5 m (s. 10.3.3).

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).

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.

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).

Parking (Table 6.6): 1 space per house or duplex unit; 1 per apartment, townhouse or cluster home plus 0.2 for visitors; none for a secondary suite or carriage house; 0.5 per non-market home.

Transit-oriented areas (Schedules C to E, around the bus exchanges at Penticton Plaza, Peachtree Square and Cherry Lane Mall; Area 1 within 200 m, Area 2 200 to 400 m, s. 3.2): residential buildings, and mixed-use ones at least half residential, need no parking for homes and may reach 6 storeys and 2.5 FAR in Area 1 or 4 storeys and 1.5 FAR in Area 2, or the zone's own figures where higher (s. 4.16).

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).

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

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).

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).

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.