Building on a lot in Tahsis.

For anyone buying a lot in Tahsis, on subjects, or planning a suite, cottage, shop or shed: the short version of the rules that decide what you can build. Everything here comes from Tahsis’s Zoning Bylaw No. 630, 2020, its amendments 660 (2023) and 667 (2024), the Floodplain Management Bylaw No. 635, and the Village’s building, burning and noise bylaws, read in September 2026. Where a rule couldn’t be confirmed from the document itself, this page says so rather than guess.

Tahsis’s zoning bylaw is Zoning Bylaw No. 630, 2020. There’s no consolidated copy, so read it with its two amendments: Bylaw 660 (2023) and Bylaw 667 (2024), adopted June 24, 2024, which added secondary suites and detached accessory dwellings. New residential lots need at least 557.4 m² (s.3.14). The residential zones:

• R-1 Residential Zone One — one house plus either a secondary suite or a detached accessory dwelling (ADU), not both. Setbacks 6 m front, 1.5 m sides, 2 m rear, 3 m on a street side; 10 m high, ADU 8 m.
• R-2 Residential Zone Two — a house or a duplex, plus a suite or ADU, and boarding for up to four.
• RM-1 Residential Multiple — houses, duplexes, townhouses and apartments. Bylaw 667 removed the old density cap.
• RU-1 Rural — one house (a mobile home counts) plus a suite. A detached ADU is allowed only if the lot is on community services.

A detached ADU in R-1 or R-2 sits 1.5 m from the rear line and 1.2 m from the sides (3 m on a street side). The bylaw sets no floor-area cap and no extra parking for it. Tahsis is well under 5,000 people, so the provincial 3–4 unit rule doesn’t apply.

• Fences — up to 2 m, with no separate front-yard limit, and no building permit (s.3.8). On a corner, nothing between 1 m and 3 m high inside the 10 m sight triangle (s.3.9).
• Retaining walls — 1.2 m maximum under zoning; no building permit under 1.5 m, and anything over 1.5 m needs professional design.
• Sheds and accessory buildings — at least 1.5 m from every lot line, in the side or rear yard, and not before the house is built or under way (s.3.5). The size below which a shed skips a permit follows the Building Code; ask the building official.
• Shipping containers — only temporarily on a residential lot, up to six months (s.3.12).
• RVs — you can live in one only while building a house on the same lot, after the permit issues: 12 months plus one six-month renewal (s.3.11).
• Derelict vehicles — a vehicle unlicensed and uninsured for over 12 months, and not in a garage, counts as derelict (s.3.12).
• Home business — up to 50% of the floor area, one outside employee, one small sign (s.3.2). Tahsis has no business licence.
• Short-term rentals — rentals under 31 days are allowed in R-1, R-2 and RM-1, with one parking space per guest room. The provincial principal-residence rule doesn’t apply here; provincial registration still does.
• Hens and bees — up to 6 hens, no roosters; up to 2 hives (s.3.3).
• Burning and noise — Fire Chief permit ($25), October 15 to April 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., garden refuse only. Construction noise 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

This page covers the rules across Tahsis. 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 Tahsis 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? 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 Tahsis office.

• The 30 m waterfront rule. No building within 30 m of the natural boundary of the sea, a lake, swamp or pond, the Leiner or Tahsis Rivers, or any other watercourse in the Village (s.3.7). In an inlet town, that rule shapes a lot of lots.
• Flood construction levels. Floodplain Bylaw 635 sets floors 3 m above the Tahsis and Leiner Rivers (within 200 m of them), 1.5 m above other watercourses (within 100 m), and 5.3 m geodetic on the coast. Council can grant a site-specific exemption if an engineer certifies the land is safe and the owner registers a covenant.
• Utility costs. 2025 flat fees per home: water $441.00, sewer $517.44, garbage $120.00 (Fees Bylaw 673).
• Permit areas. Development permit areas under the Official Community Plan weren’t confirmed for this page. Ask the Village, or get a free check, which flags them for your lot.