C-2C1: Commercial, district shopping

What the zone allows

Homes allowed

A single detached house, a duplex or a multiple dwelling (all conditional); homes in a mixed-use building (conditional): none in the first 10.7 m of its ground floor behind the front wall, entrances aside, and only homes from the third floor up, which the Director of Planning may vary; a conversion of a building that stood before June 18, 1956 into several homes (conditional, no additions); seniors housing and a home with an artist studio (conditional); lock-off units only in a multiple dwelling or mixed-use building (ss. 2.1, 2.2.2 to 2.2.4, 2.2.6, 2.2.7)

Main uses

Retail stores, a grocery or drug store, barbers, beauty and wellness centres, laundromats, photography studios and Class B repair shops outright; offices, restaurants (drive-ins too), drive-through service, a pub, liquor and cannabis stores, gas stations, vehicle dealers, motor vehicle repair and washes, a funeral home, small clothing, printing and other manufacturing (at most 300 m², with shop space at the front), parking, theatres, schools, child day care, churches, bed and breakfast and short-term rental, conditional. Carried on inside a building, patios, gas stations, drive-throughs and the like excepted; no general office on the street-level floor's first 10.7 m but insurance, travel and real estate offices (ss. 2.1, 2.2.1, 2.2.9, 2.2.10)

Smallest lot for a subdivision

None set in the district (our reading); a shop's frontage at most 15.3 m, unless a courtyard or the like keeps the street interesting (ss. 3.1.2.1, 3.2.2.1, 5.1)

Lot coverage

None set. Floor space ratio 3.00 for most uses, of which offices at most 1.20 and homes outside a mixed-use building 1.50, with at least 0.35 in businesses on the street-facing ground floor; 3.50 for a mixed-use building whose homes are all secured rental, at least 3 of them and 35% with 2 or more bedrooms, outside sub-area A (around Commercial Drive and Grandview Highway, mapped at the end of the schedule); 3.70 for one on a corner lot with 45.7 m of frontage and 1,672 m² (ss. 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.2.1)

Height limit

10.7 m, under a plane from 7.3 m at the north line on a street running east-west; up to 15.3 m with the Director of Planning's or Development Permit Board's approval. The all-rental mixed-use building 22.0 m and 6 storeys with a ground floor of 5.2 m or more, else 19.8 m and 6 storeys, under a plane from 15.3 m at the front line except on wide streets, 6.1 m within 4.6 m of the rear line; the Director of Planning or Development Permit Board may allow more. Accessory buildings 3.7 m (4.6 m at the peak), in the rear yard (ss. 2.2.12, 3.1.2.2, 3.1.2.8, 3.1.2.9, 3.2.2.2, 3.2.2.6, 3.2.2.7)

Setbacks

Front 2.5 m (the Director of Planning may reduce it); sides 1.5 m beside an RM district and 0.9 m beside an RA, R1 or RT district with no lane between, else none (0.9 m where one is given; a corner's street side as the front); rear 1.5 m for businesses, 4.6 m for homes and for the all-rental building's business floors above 6.1 m (3.1 m where its rear meets an R district's side yard) (ss. 3.1.2.3 to 3.1.2.5, 3.1.2.11, 3.1.2.12, 3.1.2.15, 3.1.2.16, 3.2.2.3 to 3.2.2.5, 3.2.2.9, 3.2.2.10)

The schedule's aim is a shopping district serving a larger neighbourhood, with more floor area for homes, less for offices, and mixed-use buildings of secured rental homes (s. 1.1).

Each habitable room needs a window on an outside wall (s. 4.2).

Redeveloping a site with 3 or more homes that removes rental homes (or did within the 3 years before applying) falls under the Rental Housing Stock Official Development Plan (s. 2.2.5).

Outright uses get a permit once they meet the rules; conditional uses are at the Director of Planning's discretion, weighing the schedule's intent, Council's policies and guidelines and what neighbours, owners and tenants submit (s. 2.1).

A lock-off unit: a smaller home inside a larger one with its own outside door and a shared inside door that locks, 26 to 29.7 m² (19 m² with the Director of Planning's approval), one kitchen and a full bathroom (Section 2, ss. 11.3.1.2, 11.3.1.3, 11.3.3).

One family to a home, plus at most 2 boarders or lodgers; no home rented for less than 30 days except as a hotel, bed and breakfast or short-term rental (ss. 11.3.1.1, 11.3.1.7). The smallest home is 37 m² (29.7 m² with the Director of Planning's approval) (s. 11.3.1.2).

Short-term rental is a conditional use, only in the operator's principal residence (a home, secondary suite, laneway house or lock-off unit); never in an accessory building or a vehicle, or alongside a bed and breakfast; at most 2 adults to a bedroom and one booking at a time; its permit lasts 2 years (s. 11.9.1).

Bed and breakfast: at most 2 bedrooms and 4 guests, the operator living in the home, and no boarders at the same time (s. 11.9.2).

Sections 2 (definitions), 10 (general regulations) and 11 (use-specific regulations) of the by-law also apply. Parking is set by the separate Parking By-law, which we haven't summarised.

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 City of Vancouver's development, buildings and licensing department before you buy or build.

Source: the C-2C1 District Schedule (May 2026) of Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575 (summarised in our words, checked 2026-10-05 and 2026-10-06); Section 11, Use-Specific Regulations (February 2026), Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575; Section 2, Definitions (June 2026), Zoning and Development By-law No. 3575; zone map: Open Government Licence – Vancouver.