R2: Duplex Housing

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One duplex or one single detached house (s. 9.1.10); a secondary suite only inside a single detached house (s. 3.26.1)

Main uses

Duplex or house, shared recreation and RV storage for the residents, minor day care; minor home business, short-term rental

Smallest lot for a subdivision

880 m², with 21 m of frontage

Lot coverage

40%

Height limit

9 m and 3 storeys; accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

Front 4.5 m, sides 1.5 m (4.5 m beside a road), rear 3 m; 15 m from the A1 zone or ALR (9 m with a buffer)

The zone is for two-family homes (s. 9.1). Parking in the front setback is limited to 45 m² (s. 3.7).

Secondary suite (s. 3.26): one per lot, inside the single detached house (not joined to it by a breezeway or carport), up to 100 m² of floor area, never strata-titled, and not on a lot with an accessory home. It needs community water or a private water source (with a water licence where one is required), and community sewer or a septic system that an Authorized Person confirms can take both homes, with room for a backup field.

Minor home business (s. 3.20): inside the home or suite only, using at most 25% of it up to 20 m², no workers from elsewhere, one client at a time, no sign and no outdoor storage.

Short-term rental (stays under 90 days in a row) is a listed use since Bylaw 1586 (May 14, 2026; s. 3.23): one per property, in all or part of the house or in its secondary suite but not both, never in an accessory home; at most 4 bedrooms and 8 guests overnight, one parking space set aside for it, and an RDCO business licence. It is allowed only inside a fire protection area (a Fire Protection Boundary set by an RDCO service bylaw): each lot's report says whether the RDCO's fire protection area map puts it inside one.

No commercial vehicle over 4,000 kg, at most two lighter ones, no RV or park model over 12.2 m and no logging or construction equipment parked on the lot; at most one unlicensed vehicle outside (s. 3.14).

On a lot with a home, nobody may live in an RV or park model trailer for more than 10 days a month, and nothing but permitted vehicles is stored in the front or corner side setback (s. 3.13.2).

On a lot without a home, no outdoor storage yard and no parking of an RV or park model trailer (s. 3.13.1).

Accessory buildings: up to 100 m² of floor area in all and three buildings (pump houses and pools aside), 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 (s. 3.17).

The house stays 15 m from land in the A1 zone or the ALR; in RU and R zones 9 m with a level 1 buffer (3 m wide: a 2 m solid screen, an evergreen hedge and trees) along that line (s. 3.11).

Fences up to 1.3 m in the front and corner side setbacks and 2 m elsewhere, with no barbed, razor or electric wire (s. 3.10); retaining walls up to 2.5 m and 2 m apart.

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).

A lot cut off for a relative must meet the zone's minimum lot size too (s. 3.3).

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 9.1 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.