A1: Agricultural Small Acreage

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

One house or manufactured home (s. 8.1.7), with a secondary suite or a carriage house (90 m² at most in the ALR); seasonal farm worker housing and agri-tourism accommodation under their own rules (ss. 7.13, 7.16)

Main uses

Farming, intensive farming, greenhouses and nurseries; a fruit stand, winery, cidery, craft brewery or distillery, stable, kennel (4 ha lots) or animal shelter (2 ha), small child care, home occupations, short-term rental

Smallest lot for a subdivision

2 ha, 60 m wide; with the Agricultural Land Commission's approval of a homesite severance or a lot consolidation, as small as 1,400 m² and 20 m (s. 8.1.4)

Lot coverage

Homes and their yards within a farm home plate of up to 905 m²; buildings outside it 10% of the lot, 65% for greenhouses and nurseries on 2 ha or more (s. 8.1.5)

Height limit

Houses the lesser of 9.5 m or 2 storeys; accessory buildings 11 m or 2 storeys; farm buildings 12 m

Setbacks

Front and rear 7 m, sides 4 m (4.5 m beside a street, 6 m for a garage door facing it); greenhouses, animal buildings, kennels and intensive farming 15 m from every lot line, 30 m from the side and rear beside a town residential zone (s. 8.1.6)

The zone is for existing small farms on land the community plan designates agricultural (s. 8.1.1).

A carriage house (a home in an accessory building, s. 7.4) is no larger than the main home and must be on municipal water and sewer, unless the lot is 1 ha or more and has a septic system; a secondary suite (s. 7.3) is one in the house, no larger than the rest of it.

Short-term rental is allowed (s. 7.2): one home on the lot, run by someone living on the lot as their primary residence (in the house, the suite or the carriage house), up to four bedrooms and eight guests.

The provincial small-scale housing floor doesn't apply in the Agricultural Land Reserve.

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 District of Summerland's development services department before you buy or build.

Source: Section 8.1 of Zoning Bylaw No. 2000-450 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05); zone map: Open Government Licence – District of Summerland.