Building on a lot in Gold River.

For anyone buying a lot in Gold River, on subjects, or planning a second home, shop or shed: the short version of the rules that decide what you can build. Everything here comes from Gold River’s Zoning Bylaw No. 761, 2025, its Official Community Plan (Bylaw 760, 2025), and the Village’s building, burning, noise and business licence bylaws, read in September 2026. Where a rule couldn’t be confirmed from the document itself, this page says so rather than guess.

Gold River’s zoning bylaw is Zoning Bylaw No. 761, 2025, which replaced the old Bylaw 706. The residential zones:

• R-L Low Density Residential — one house plus one accessory dwelling unit, attached or detached, and it can be a manufactured home. Lots from 557 m² with 15.2 m of frontage. The house sits 4.6 m to 9.1 m back from the front line (a maximum as well as a minimum), 1.5 m from the sides and 6.1 m from the rear; 11 m high, 40% lot coverage (s.6).
• R-R Rural Residential — house plus accessory dwelling on 1 ha or more, with livestock allowed; 7.6 m setbacks all round, 30% coverage (s.7).
• R-M is a duplex zone (700 m² lots), R-M2 allows a house with an accessory dwelling or a duplex, R-M3 rowhouses and R-H apartments (s.8–11).
• M.H.S. Manufactured Home Subdivision — one manufactured home on a lot from 500 m². The zone doesn’t list an accessory dwelling; ask the Village (s.13).

A second home, no strings. The bylaw puts no floor-area cap, height rule, owner-occupancy or extra-parking condition on an accessory dwelling in R-L or R-R. With about 1,250 people, Gold River is under the 5,000 mark, so the provincial 3–4 unit rule doesn’t apply.

A manufactured home used as a main home must be at least 6.5 m wide; single-wides belong in the manufactured home zones (s.4.21).

• Fences — 1.2 m in front and street-side yards, 1.8 m elsewhere; nothing blocking the view inside a 7.0 m corner offset (s.4.10).
• Decks — need a building permit if they’re more than 600 mm above grade (Permit Guide).
• Sheds — no building permit up to 10 m², one storey and 3 m to the peak (Building Bylaw 651 s.5.2(e)). Zoning still applies: beside or behind the house, 1.5 m from side and rear lines, one storey (s.4.2).
• Retaining walls under 1.2 m don’t need a permit; pools do.
• Trees and soil — no tree or soil bylaw, though the streamside permit area still applies near the rivers.
• RVs and trailers — storage only in residential zones, with no allowance to live in one. Per house, no more than three campers, trailers and pleasure boats combined, and one derelict vehicle for up to 90 days (s.4.3).
• Home business — up to 25% of the house or 55 m², whichever is less (s.4.12), with a $75 annual business licence.
• B&Bs — inside the house, operator living there, two bedrooms at most, one employee (s.4.9.1).
• Hens — poultry needs a lot of at least 0.81 ha, so backyard hens on a standard R-L lot aren’t allowed (s.4.5.1).
• Burning and noise — open burning is banned April 15 to October 15, and yard debris can’t be burned at all; backyard campfires need registering. Construction noise not before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

This page covers the rules across Gold River. 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 Gold River 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 Village water and sewer, or a well and 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 Village of Gold River office.

• River setbacks. No building within 30 m of the natural boundary of the Gold or Heber Rivers, 15 m of the sea, or 30 m of any other lake or watercourse with fish habitat (s.4.7). Foundations sit at least 0.6 m above the 200-year flood level (s.4.8).
• Environmental and hazard permit area. Building within 30 m of the Gold or Heber Rivers, or on slopes over 12%, triggers a development permit under the Official Community Plan; steep slopes need a professional engineer’s report.
• Small additions are exempt. An addition of 40 m² or less that matches the original building doesn’t need a development permit.
• Wildfire. There’s no wildfire permit area, but the plan strongly encourages FireSmart standards.