Building on a lot in Comox.

For anyone buying a lot in Comox, on subjects, or planning a suite, coach house, multiplex, shop or shed: the short version of the rules that decide what you can build. Everything here comes from Comox’s new Zoning Bylaw No. 2056 (adopted February 18, 2026), its Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 2054, the Building Bylaw and the Tree Protection Bylaw No. 2063, read in September 2026. Where a rule couldn’t be confirmed from the document itself, this page says so rather than guess.

Comox adopted a new zoning bylaw this year: Zoning Bylaw No. 2056, adopted February 18, 2026, which repealed Bylaw 1850. The residential zones:

• R-SSMU Small-Scale Multi-Unit Residential — the main residential zone. Up to 4 homes per lot, or 2 if the lot is over 4,050 m² or isn’t on both community water and sewer. New lots from 450 m² and 15 m wide. Setbacks 3.0 m front (6.0 m to a garage), 1.5 m sides, 3.0 m on a street side, 5.0 m rear. Up to 11 m and 3 storeys; buildings can cover 50% of the lot, 70% with paving. One parking space per home (Tables 9.2–9.5).
• R-LL Large Lot Residential — also up to 4 per lot, on lots from 3,500 m², 9 m and 2 storeys.
• R-WF Western Foreshore Residential — 2 homes per lot, lots from 650 m².
• R-CL Cape Lazo Residential — 2 homes per lot, lots from 5,000 m²; coach houses aren’t allowed in part of the area.

Coach houses can be up to 100 m², 5.5 m high on one storey or 7.5 m on two, set 1.5 m from the side lines and 1.5 m (one storey) or 4.0 m (two storeys) from the rear (Table 6.4). Secondary suites sit inside the main home with their own entrance — one per home, not in a coach house, and they can’t be stratified (s.6.6).

• Fences — 1.2 m in front and street-side yards, 2.4 m elsewhere. Any retaining wall within 1.0 m counts toward the height. On a corner, nothing over 1.0 m inside the 6.0 m sight triangle (Table 7.4, s.5.5).
• Retaining walls — no wall inside a setback over 2.4 m; tiers at least 1.2 m apart. Walls over 1.2 m need a building permit.
• Sheds — no building permit under 10 m², and a chicken coop up to 5 m² is exempt too. Other accessory buildings (not coach houses) share a 60 m² cap in R-SSMU, 4.5 m high, 1.2 m from side and rear lines, or right on the line if under 10 m².
• Decks — the Building Bylaw has no local deck threshold; ask the Town’s building department.
• Pools — anything over 0.6 m deep needs a permit and a 1.5 m non-climbable barrier with a self-closing gate.
• Trees — the Tree Protection Bylaw (June 2026) covers private lots. Cutting a Douglas-fir, western redcedar, arbutus, Garry oak, bigleaf maple or other listed species 20 cm or more across (30 cm for other species) needs a $50 permit, with replacement trees or $1,000 per tree in lieu.
• RVs — an RV doesn’t count as a home, and there’s no general limit on parking an RV or boat on your lot.
• Home business — up to 30% of the home to 40 m²; a minor one has no outside employees, a major one can have one.
• Vacation rentals — allowed in the main home, a suite or a coach house under the provincial rules; the principal-residence rule applies in Comox. Business licence $300 a year.
• Hens — only on lots of 1,500 m² or more: up to 6, no roosters, rear yard only (Table 6.7).
• Burning and noise — no backyard burning. No construction before 7 a.m. or after 8 p.m., any day.

This page covers the rules across Comox. A report reads them against one lot. The free check gives you the lot’s size, its zone, the units the provincial housing rules allow, and flags for floodplain, farmland, streams and wildfire.

A LotSimple report ($50) adds setbacks and buildable area sketched on your lot, the permit areas on it and what each triggers, a LotSimple score, and 12 months of alerts if the rules change. See a sample of every tier.

Buying in Comox with a subject to remove? Answer these first:

• Which zone is the lot actually in? Check the zoning map, not the listing.
• Is it in a permit area, floodplain or stream setback? Each adds steps and cost.
• Is it on Town water and sewer, or septic? That decides what you can add.
• What’s on title? Covenants and rights-of-way can limit a lot more than zoning does.
• Anything you’ll spend money on: confirm it with the Town of Comox planning department.

• Small builds skip design review. Development Permit Area 1 covers small-scale multi-unit housing, but houses, coach houses and secondary suites are exempt.
• Streams. Riparian areas follow the provincial Riparian Areas Protection Regulation: a qualified professional sets the setback, and the riparian development permit fee is $500 per parcel.
• Hazards and ecosystems. Steep slopes, flood extents and sensitive ecosystems (arbutus and Garry oak, bluffs, heron and raptor nests) have their own permit areas.
• Connection costs. A new 25 mm water connection is $7,500 and a 100 mm sewer connection $6,350 (Town fees).