H1: Institutional and Health Care

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

No house: housing for seniors and people needing care or support (assisted, independent, supportive, congregate, complex and residential care, shelter housing, a campus of care), up to 110 sleeping units a hectare and 1.20 floor area ratio (ss. 27.1, 27.2)

Main uses

Assisted living, independent living, supportive living, congregate, complex care, residential care and shelter housing, a campus of care, civic uses (fire, community, recreation and administrative services, public works), a day care centre, a hospital, institutional uses, a park, schools; accessory uses and buildings (s. 27.1; definitions in Section 4)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

669 m² fully serviced; 18 m of frontage with a lane, 21.3 m without (s. 27.2)

Lot coverage

45% (s. 27.2)

Height limit

12 m or 3 storeys; accessory buildings 4.5 m (s. 27.2)

Setbacks

Front 6 m, rear 6 m, interior sides 2.4 m, exterior side 4 m; accessory buildings front 6 m, rear 3 m, sides 2.4 m, exterior side 4 m (s. 27.2)

The zone is for institutional services, age-friendly housing, health care and education (s. 27's intent). At least 40% of the lot is outdoor amenity area (s. 27.3).

The bylaw lists no house, secondary suite, carriage house, bed and breakfast or home occupation in this zone (s. 27.1). Its table still sets a single detached house's least width and length at 5.5 m (s. 27.2).

Parking (Table 7.2): one space for every 4 hospital beds; 2 a classroom for an elementary school, 3 for a senior high; for a day care centre, one for every 10 people in care plus one for every 2 employees; one for every 20 m² of other institutional floor area.

The bylaw doesn't list short-term rental of a home in this zone, and the zone allows only the uses it lists (s. 27.1): ask the Town of Princeton before renting here by the night.

Flood protection (s. 6.12): no building within 7.6 m of the landward toe of the Tulameen and Similkameen River dyke or 15 m of another watercourse's natural boundary; living space at least 0.6 m above the 200-year flood level, or 3 m above the watercourse's natural boundary where that level isn't known.

In the Institutional and Health Care zone, the Chief Administrative Officer may waive the flood setback or elevation for a site where no home sits below the flood construction level, a qualified professional's flood assessment says the site can be built safely without relying on the dyke, and the owner signs a covenant releasing the Town (s. 6.12a, Bylaw 1051, 2024).

Fences up to 1.2 m in the front setback and 1.8 m in side and rear setbacks (ss. 6.10, 6.11).

One principal building per lot (s. 6.28).

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 Town of Princeton's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 27 of Town of Princeton Zoning Bylaw No. 880, 2013 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – Regional District Okanagan Similkameen.