C-3: Commercial 3

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home per hectare of lot (s. 4.4.3), alongside the commercial uses; the zone doesn't list a secondary suite (s. 2.18)

Main uses

An artisan studio, auction sales, a building supply and lumber outlet, care services (up to ten people, six in care), a commercial cardlock, a home, equipment rental, a funeral home, food processing, a pub, a gas station, a kennel, mini storage, a nursery, offices, an outdoor market, outdoor sales, product assembly, personal services, a recreation facility, a restaurant, retail stores, service and repair; accessory buildings and accessory offices and retail (ss. 4.4.1, 4.4.2, 4.4.4(b))

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1 ha, with 20 m of frontage on a road (s. 4.4.3); up to half the lots in a subdivision may be 80% of that if the average holds (s. 6.7)

Lot coverage

30% of the first hectare of the lot, 5% of the rest (s. 4.4.3)

Height limit

10 m (s. 4.4.3)

Setbacks

4.5 m from the front and from a side along a road, 2.0 m from the other lot lines; a kennel 15 m from every lot line (ss. 4.4.3, 4.4.4(a))

The zone is for highway and village commercial uses on lots of a hectare or more, from shops and restaurants to building supply, storage and repair (our reading of its uses).

No building or structure over 1,500 m² of floor area (s. 4.4.3).

Additional zones C-3.1 to C-3.18 add uses for the lots the bylaw's map names (s. 4.4.5, s. 4.23).

Runoff control standards (s. 2.5) and the general regulations of Section 2 apply (s. 4.4.3).

Short-term rental of a whole home isn't a use this zone lists, and a suite may not be rented for less than a month (s. 2.18); ask the RDN before renting a home short term.

Watercourses (s. 2.10): no building within 30 m of the Little Qualicum River, the Englishman River or French Creek north of Highway 4A (from the natural boundary, or from the top of a bank within 30 m), 15 m of the other streams on the Area F plan's Map 3, and 8 m of any other watercourse.

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 RDN's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 4.4 of Electoral Area F Zoning and Subdivision Bylaw No. 1285, 2002 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – Regional District of Nanaimo.