C5: Campground, Cabin and Motel Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home per lot, and at most one in a whole strata plan (s. 11.5.10). Tourist cabins, campsites and motel units aren't homes: the bylaw defines them as stays of under 90 days in a row (motels under a month), not residential use (Part 15)

Main uses

Tourist cabins, tourist campsites, motels, one home; where one of those is on the lot, also a community or assembly hall, restaurant, convenience store, marina, outdoor recreation equipment rental and accessory buildings (ss. 11.5.1.1, 11.5.1.2)

Exceptions (1)

• On two properties the bylaw names, only a swimming pool, an outdoor storage yard, an RV storage yard and a maintenance workshop or storage building

Listed in s. 11.5.1.1.5 of the bylaw.

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1.0 ha, with 50 m of frontage (ss. 11.5.2, 11.5.3)

Lot coverage

30%; at most 20 accommodation units per hectare (ss. 11.5.9, 11.5.12)

Height limit

9.0 m (s. 11.5.11)

Setbacks

Front 4.5 m, sides 3.0 m (4.5 m beside a road), rear 3.0 m; 15 m from the A1 zone (ss. 11.5.4 to 11.5.8, 3.11)

The zone is for tourist accommodation: campgrounds, small motels and small resorts, with a few uses that serve them (s. 11.3).

A lot here is often a site or cabin in a strata campground or resort. The zone allows at most one home in the whole strata plan, and cabins and campsites are for stays of under 90 days in a row, so a strata lot here is for holidays, not a year-round home (our reading of s. 11.5.10 and Part 15): read the strata's bylaws and ask the RDCO.

A tourist cabin is at most 100 m² of floor area, with its own kitchen and washroom allowed; a tourist campsite is for tents, trailers, campers and motor homes, and park model trailers aren't allowed on one; a motel unit is at most 100 m² (Part 15).

Short-term rental under s. 3.23 isn't listed here; the cabins, campsites and motel units are themselves short-term stays.

Parking: one space per tourist cabin and per motel unit, one per 4 restaurant seats (Table 14.1).

A marina may sell fuel only where the zoning map shows the lot as C5f (s. 3.27).

A solid screen at least 2.0 m high along a boundary with a residential or park zone, and around outdoor storage (ss. 3.10.7, 3.10.8).

Accessory buildings come after the main building, never in the front or corner side setback; in a side or rear setback one over 2 m tall stays 1 m from the line; nobody lives in one unless it is an accessory home (s. 3.17).

Heights of houses and of accessory buildings up to two storeys are measured from the centre line of the road in front (on a flat lot or one sloping down from the road) or the average level of the rear lot line (on a lot sloping up), not from the ground at the building (Part 15). Barns, silos, grain bins, chimneys, antennas and similar are exempt from height limits, most of them up to 20 m (s. 3.9).

Floodplain (s. 3.28): floors for living, business or storing goods sit above 343.66 m (geodetic) beside Okanagan Lake, 3 m above the natural boundary of Mission Creek and 1.5 m above any other watercourse; fill to raise them stays 15 m from Okanagan Lake and other watercourses, 30 m from Mission Creek and 7.5 m from other lakes, swamps and ponds. Garages, carports, entrance foyers and most farm buildings are exempt; the RDCO may grant exemptions on a geotechnical report.

Only the uses the zone lists are allowed (s. 4.5.1). Licensed day cares for up to 8 and care homes for up to 10 people are outside the bylaw and allowed anywhere (note to s. 3.12).

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 RDCO's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 11.3 of Regional District of Central Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 871 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-04); zone map: Open Government Licence – Regional District of Central Okanagan.