RS-1A: Single Residential (Urban-A)

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house or one duplex, plus a secondary suite

Main uses

House or duplex; horticulture, small farm animals (bees, rabbits, ducks), home occupation

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1,670 m² without community water or sewer, 695 m² with one, 555 m² with both; a duplex needs 2,140, 1,170 or 700 m² (and each half of a split duplex 1,070, 585 or 350 m²)

Lot coverage

30%

Height limit

House 9 m, accessory buildings 5 m

Setbacks

House: front 7.5 m, rear 6 m, sides 1.2 m (4.5 m beside a road). Accessory buildings: front 7.5 m, rear and sides 1 m (4.5 m beside a road)

A house or duplex is at least 5.5 m wide in every direction (not counting additions).

Secondary suite (s. 4.16): one per lot, at most 49% of the house's living space, or above the first storey of a detached garage (70 m² on lots under 0.4 ha, 90 m² on 0.4 ha or more; the garage up to 7.5 m tall, 7.5 m from the front, 3 m from the rear and 1.5 m from the sides, 4.5 m beside a road). On approved sewage disposal, never strata-titled, and not in a manufactured home; no garage suite on a lot with a duplex or another extra dwelling.

Home occupation (s. 4.05): run by the family living on the lot with at most one outside helper, inside the house or an accessory building, and at most 185 m² in all. On lots of 2 ha or more it can also use up to 185 m² outdoors, away from the front yard. The bylaw defines a bed and breakfast (up to four guest rooms) as a kind of home occupation (s. 3.04).

The bylaw doesn't list vacation or short-term rental as a use; a bed and breakfast is allowed as a home occupation. Ask the RDEK before renting a home short term.

While a new house is being built under a building permit, one extra dwelling or an RV may be lived in on the lot; it goes once the house is occupied (s. 4.04A). Otherwise an RV or park model trailer can't be used as a home (s. 4.04).

A duplex built before the bylaw (1990) may be split into two strata lots.

No vehicle wrecking or repair, and at most one derelict vehicle, kept out of the front yard.

Every zone also allows public utilities, parks, roads and conservation areas (s. 4.03).

Inside the ALR, farm uses the Agricultural Land Commission allows are permitted, and the Commission's rules also apply to suites and second dwellings (ss. 4.13, 4.14 and 4.16).

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 RDEK's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Elk Valley Zoning Bylaw No. 829, 1990 (summarised in our words); zone map: Open Government Licence – Regional District of East Kootenay.