C.5: Recreation Commercial

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One home (a manufactured home allowed) for the owner, operator or an employee

Main uses

Campgrounds, cabins, hotels and motels; golf courses and driving ranges, marinas, shooting ranges, theme parks, zoos and other outdoor recreation and attractions; restaurants; boat, RV, fuel and sporting goods sales, storage and rental (sporting goods up to 150 m²); RV storage and service; cannabis stores in Areas D and E; farming; assembly and civic uses

Smallest lot for a subdivision

1 ha (8 ha in the ALR, or as the Agricultural Land Commission approves); frontage 10% of the lot's perimeter

Lot coverage

30%

Height limit

Main buildings 10 m or two storeys, whichever is less; accessory buildings and park model units 6 m

Setbacks

Front, exterior side and rear 7.5 m; interior sides 2 m

On a campsite: one shed under 10 m² with no plumbing and no sleeping, and an unheated, unwired addition to an RV or park model of up to 50 m², not for sleeping or parking (s. 13.5(9), (10)). Treated sewage effluent may be spray-irrigated as an accessory use.

The Vernon Fish and Game Club's range near Noble Canyon Road in Area D is limited to the ranges themselves (s. 13.5(3)).

A home for the owner, operator or an employee: one per property, on the second storey or behind the business building (s. 3.27).

Campgrounds follow s. 12: an RDNO permit, campsites of at least 84 m² set 7.5 m inside the boundary, a landscaped buffer (7.5 m at the front, 4.5 m elsewhere), 5% recreation space, a store of 25 to 50 m², washrooms by number of sites, and one parking space per site plus visitor parking.

Cannabis stores only in Electoral Areas D and E; cannabis lounges are banned everywhere (ss. 3.3(9), 3.3(10)).

Agricultural use is listed, but in residential, commercial and industrial zones it is allowed only on land in the ALR (s. 3.5(3)).

In the ALR, the Agricultural Land Commission's rules also apply and come first (s. 3.4): a house may have at most 500 m² of floor area (s. 3.23), and subdividing needs the Commission's approval (s. 5.1).

The access strip of a panhandle lot narrower than 14 m doesn't count toward the minimum lot size.

Outdoor storage is screened by a 2.5 m solid fence or a 2 m evergreen hedge, and kept out of the front yard and yards next to residential lots (ss. 3.30, 9.1); parking or display beside a residential lot is screened 2 m high. A landscaped strip of 2 m runs beside residential lots, 3 m beside roads and 7.5 m beside a controlled access highway (s. 10.1).

Fences and hedges up to 1.2 m anywhere on the lot, and up to 2 m outside the front and exterior side setbacks; retaining walls up to 1.2 m inside setbacks and 2.4 m outside them (s. 9.2).

Heights are measured from finished grade to the highest point of the building (s. 2); antennas, spires and fire towers are exempt, and chimneys, stair and elevator towers and rooftop equipment may rise 2.5 m above the limit (s. 4.3). Eaves, steps, decks and balconies may reach 1 m into a setback, chimneys and bay windows 0.6 m; sheds under 10 m² and 2.5 m tall that don't drain onto a neighbour are exempt from side and rear setbacks (s. 4.4).

Public parks and playgrounds are allowed in every zone except the comprehensive development zones (s. 3.2(3)). Banned everywhere (s. 3.3): living in a cellar; living or working in a tent, RV, park model or container, except one tent or one RV up to 10 m for 30 days a year outside a campground; storing wrecked vehicles in the open; pulp mills; and sewage plants that discharge to surface water.

Floodplain (s. 6.1): floors for living, business or storing goods sit above the flood construction level: the provincial floodplain maps where they exist; 351.1 m beside Mara Lake, 393.2 m beside Kalamalka Lake and 604.72 m beside Sugar Lake; 3 m above the natural boundary of Mabel Lake and of the Shuswap River between Shuswap Falls and Sugar Lake; 1.5 m above the natural boundary of any other stream, lake, marsh or pond. Buildings and fill stay 30 m from the Shuswap and Kettle rivers and Ashton, Bessette, Cherry, Duteau, Ferry, Kingfisher, Monashee, Tsuius and Wap creeks, and 15 m from other water bodies and dykes. Garages, carports, entrance foyers, renovations and most farm buildings are exempt from the level; the RDNO Board may grant exemptions on an engineer's report.

Streamside (s. 6.2): no development in the riparian assessment area (generally 30 m from a stream, lake or wetland under the provincial Riparian Areas Protection Regulation) unless a qualified environmental professional's assessment sets a smaller setback or the province approves.

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 RDNO's planning department before you buy or build.

Source: Regional District of North Okanagan Zoning Bylaw No. 3000, 2023 (summarised in our words); zone map: RDNO Digital Data Files terms of use; Source: Regional District of North Okanagan GIS Department.