RS3: Residential Small-Scale 3

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

Up to 4 homes on a lot over 280 m² and under 4,050 m², or 6 within 400 m of a prescribed bus stop (Schedule D); up to 3 on a lot of 280 m² or less (s. 2.5). The forms: a house with a secondary suite and an accessory dwelling unit (a detached home); a duplex; a triplex only within 400 m of a prescribed bus stop; each home of a duplex or triplex may have a secondary suite. Accessory dwelling units, duplexes and triplexes aren't allowed on lots exempt under s. 481.4 of the Local Government Act or inside a transit-oriented area (Table 2.3, Notes 2 to 4). On 4,050 m² or more the bylaw sets no count, so how many homes a larger lot may have is unclear: ask the City

Exceptions (1)

• Not on 15 lots the bylaw names, along Manning Avenue, Fraser Avenue and Shaughnessy Street: no accessory dwelling unit, duplex or triplex

Listed in Table 2.3, Notes 2 to 4 of the bylaw.

Main uses

A house, a secondary suite, an accessory dwelling unit, a duplex, a triplex (within 400 m of a prescribed bus stop), townhouses on lots that qualify (below), boarding (at most two boarders a home, stays of 90 days or more; none in a suite, accessory dwelling unit or short-term rental home), parks and playgrounds, child care, home businesses (short-term rental among them), farming (no mushrooms, fur animals, pigs, or poultry and livestock beyond the household's own use); a community care facility for up to 10 people, 300 m from another on the same street. No hobby beekeeping (Table 2.3)

Exceptions (1)

• A parking lot on one lot the bylaw names

Listed in Table 2.3, Notes 5, 7 and 10 of the bylaw.

Smallest lot for a subdivision

4,000 m², 30 m wide, frontage a tenth of the lot's perimeter, 28 m deep (Table 2.2)

Lot coverage

50%; impervious surfaces at most 65% (Table 2.4)

Height limit

10.5 m and 3 storeys, basements counted (Table 2.4, Note 1); an accessory dwelling unit 7.5 m to the top of the roof, 8.5 m with a roof of 9 in 12 or steeper (Section III, s. 13-5); accessory buildings 3 m to 4.8 m by roof slope (Section III, s. 2-7)

Setbacks

Front 6.0 m (4.0 m with a lane, with parking only behind the house, or within 400 m of a prescribed bus stop), sides 1.2 m, street side 2.4 m, rear 7.5 m (6.0 m for a triplex within 400 m of a prescribed bus stop), measured to the principal building only (Table 2.4, Notes 5 to 7)

The zone is for small-scale homes on large lots at least 30 m wide (Table 2.1).

Floor area ratio 0.50 for a house, 0.60 with a secondary suite, 0.75 for a duplex, with or without suites (Table 2.4, Note 4). Not counted: accessory buildings, an attached garage or carport up to 46 m² for a house or 23 m² for each duplex or triplex home or accessory dwelling unit, up to 90 m² for an accessory dwelling unit, and crawl spaces; floor more than 4.3 m below its ceiling counts twice (Section 1; Table 2.4, Note 3). Table 2.4 lists RS3's ratio as 0.50, 0.60 and 0.75 only, while Note 4 gives a triplex 1.0 in every RS zone, so a triplex's floor area here is unclear: ask the City.

Townhouses, under the RTh4 zone's rules (45% coverage, one home per 170 m², front, rear and street side 4.0 m, inside sides 1.8 m, 10.5 m high), on an RS lot of at least 1,360 m² that the Official Community Plan designates Townhouse, or designates Residential or Small Lot Residential and that is over 40 m deep, on a collector or arterial road and backs onto a lane (Table 2.3, Note 14). Which designation a lot has is on the City's plan map, which we don't read: ask the City.

A principal building at most 20 m deep, plus up to 4 m of decks (Table 2.4, Note 8). Where the lot backs onto an open lane, driveways and garages are reached from the lane (s. 2.5.1). Each home needs at least 15 m² of usable open space (s. 2.5.9). No basement or crawl space may stick out past the storey above (s. 2.5.18).

An accessory dwelling unit is a detached home that stays on one title with the house; only with a house (not a duplex or triplex), at most 90 m² not counting an attached garage (at most half of it in a basement), 11.5 m deep, 7.5 m high to the top of the roof (8.5 m with a roof of 9 in 12 or steeper); not in the front setback or the side setbacks, 1.2 m from the rear line or a lane, 6.0 m from the house, 2.4 m from accessory buildings; a paved path at least 1.0 m wide to the street; no secondary suite, rooftop deck, balcony over 7.5 m² or outside stairs to an upper storey; a garage attached to it has no inside door to it (Section 1; Section III, s. 13).

A secondary suite is inside the building with the home it belongs to, at most 40% of that home's floor area, never on a title of its own, and not in a home with a child care facility (Section 1; Section III, s. 6).

Accessory buildings (garages, carports, sheds): together at most 12% of the lot or 90 m², whichever is less; 7.5 m deep; 3 m high with a flat or low roof, up to 4.8 m to the peak of a roof of 6 in 12 or steeper; not in the front setback or the side setbacks, 1.2 m from the rear line or a lane, 1.5 m from the house if over 10 m²; nobody lives in them, and a sink and toilet but no shower or bath (Section III, ss. 2-3 to 2-8).

Short-term rental (under 90 days) only in the operator's principal residence, as a licensed home business: up to two bedrooms without cooking facilities, at most four guests, one more parking space per bedroom rented, and not on a lot with more than two homes (Section 1; Section III, s. 5-4).

Home businesses: at most 46 m² or 20% of the home, whichever is less, indoors, at most three people working (one from elsewhere), five business visitors a day (tutoring and personal services one employee, three clients at a time, ten visitors a day); none with boarding or child care in the home (Section III, ss. 5-1, 5-2).

Child care: up to 8 children in a home where the licence holder lives (up to 25 in a house, built to the Building Code's assembly rules over 10 people); not in a home with a suite or a home business, nor in a suite or accessory dwelling unit (Section III, ss. 8-1, 8-2).

In the flood plain no habitable room goes below the flood construction level (Schedule B); a house in an RS zone there has at most a 10 m² entry, a 10 m² laundry or mechanical room and a garage below it, the rest crawl space (Section III, s. 1).

No home on a lot under 0.4 ha that isn't on community water and sewer; no mobile homes (Section II, s. 6).

Uses the zone doesn't list aren't allowed (Section II, s. 5).

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 Port Coquitlam's development services department before you buy or build.

Source: Section II, Part 2 of City of Port Coquitlam Zoning Bylaw, 2008, No. 3630 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05); zone map: Open Government Licence – City of Port Coquitlam.