LI1: Light Industry 1

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

No house: one home a lot, as an accessory use (s. 4.9(b), (c))

Main uses

Light industry (wholesale, warehousing, testing, service, repair or maintenance, processing goods, manufacturing in at most 200 m² of floor area, with accessory retail and outdoor storage; no seafood processing), heavy equipment display (sale or rental of manufactured homes, industrial vehicles and machinery), mini storage, outdoor sales (vehicles, equipment, lumber, building products, boats and recreational vehicles); a home, moving-vehicle rental with the mini storage and a marshalling yard as accessory uses (s. 4.9(b); definitions in Part 1)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

Set by the lot's subdivision district on the RDN's map, from 400 m² to 50 ha by district and servicing (Part 5); a report on a lot names its district and size.

Lot coverage

60% (s. 4.9(c))

Height limit

12.0 m; a home 9.0 m (s. 4.9(c))

Setbacks

5.0 m from every lot line, zero from a shared interior side line with an industrial or commercial lot; watercourses by s. 3.9 and corner lots by s. 3.8 (s. 4.9(d))

The zone is for light industry with no effect beyond the lot: storage, warehousing, equipment repair and sales (s. 4.9(a)).

How much and how many uses a lot may hold depends on how it can be serviced (ss. 4.9(e)(i), 3.28); manufacturing at most 200 m² of floor area (s. 4.9(e)(ii)).

Sub-zone LI1.1 (s. 4.9.1): only light industry, a contractor's business and mini storage, with one home, a home-based business and marshalling; everything inside a building but outdoor storage, which sits behind the buildings, away from Main Road, screened 3.0 m high; paved parking and an oil-water separator for stormwater kept on the lot.

Parking (s. 3.22): mini storage one space per 15 units plus one for staff; heavy equipment display one per 70 m² of floor area; other industrial uses one per 30 m² of office and one per 175 m² of storage floor area.

Short-term rental of a whole home isn't a use this zone lists, uses a zone doesn't list are prohibited (s. 1.3), and a home-based business may not offer accommodation other than a bed and breakfast (s. 3.15); ask the RDN before renting a home short term.

Watercourses (s. 3.9): no building within 15 m of a stream's or lake's natural boundary (9 m from the top of a bank where the ground within 15 m averages over 30% slope), 30 m from the Nanaimo, Englishman, Little Qualicum and Qualicum rivers; 8 m from the sea or the top of a steep shore bank (s. 3.10, other figures in Area E).

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 4.9 of Regional District of Nanaimo Zoning Bylaw No. 2500, 2024 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-06); zone map: Open Government Licence – Regional District of Nanaimo.