Stock photo (ID 98670941 © Madhourse | Dreamstime.com)

By Liam Verster

Housing Options

Regulations relaxed on additional dwellings in Vernon

Dec 13, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Bylaws are being loosened to allow more housing options in Vernon.

At the regular meeting Monday, Dec. 11, Vernon city council was presented with changes to bylaws with updated regulations for secondary suites and accessory dwellings to allow more to be built.

Secondary suites are built within a principal structure, while accessory dwellings are their own building located on a property and not connected with an existing home, such as carriage homes.

Barbara Everdene, the long range planner for the City of Vernon, presented the proposed amendments to council that would allow up to three dwellings on a lot.

Secondary Suite Specific Amendments

Possible firearm involved

One person apprehended in connection with suspicious activity in Coldstream

Dec 13, 2025

Fatal Collision, Highway Closed

One person dead in crash near Revelstoke

Dec 13, 2025

Salaries

Vernon Council to discuss lesser pay increases

Dec 12, 2025

• Change the maximum space from the existing 90m² or 45 per cent of the net floor space, to allow the gross floor area at a maximum of 49 per cent of the entire house.

“The proposed change would allow for larger homes to have larger units in them, and administration is primarily advancing this to be able to have more habitable space, to have a larger number of bedrooms, for families that are very much looking for rental housing,” Everdene told council.

“So it’s still subordinate to the main dwelling unit in the home, but there’s no need to wall-off space or otherwise make it smaller than it needs to be for homes that are larger than having a 90m² secondary suite.”

Accessory Dwelling Specific Amendments:

• Changing the net floor area from 80-90m² or 60-70% of the net floor area of the primary dwelling, including garages and basements, depending on the lot size, allowing for a net floor area maximum of 150m².
• Changing the lot coverage of secondary building from a maximum of 90m² or 14 per cent of the lot size, to a maximum footprint of 14 per cent of the lot size. Under this change, a secondary building, such as a garage, must not exceed a maximum footprint of 100m² unless it contains an accessory dwelling, in which case it could be 150m².

“What we’re seeing is we’re still encouraging, where the lot size allows, for there to be good on-site parking, garages are welcome, and to have reasonably sized floor plate to accommodate, again to have a little bit more room, for another bedroom, a little bit more room for living space for rental housing,” Everdene said Monday.

• Increasing the height of accessory dwellings from 1.5 to two storeys, depending on the lot size and presence of a lane or flanking street, to a maximum of 7.0 metres, or a little over two storeys.
• Removing the clause that no secondary building containing a secondary suite shall be taller than the principal building.

“We really want to be able to encourage renovations and in-fill development and re-development in residential areas where it makes sense. A lot of accessory dwelling units are financed at a smaller capitalization context, and in a lot of cases there’s some older homes in Vernon that might be a one-storey where it makes sense in this current environment with the need for housing to have a secondary building that has more height,” Everdene stated.

• Changing the requirement that accessory dwellings be located at the back of the lot, allowing them to be built in the front yard.

There were no changes recommended for the parking regulations, which state that a minimum of two spaces need to be provided for the primary dwelling plus one additional spot a secondary suite and one additional for for an accessory dwelling.

Everdene noted accessory dwelling must be of subordinate size of the primary dwelling was as they don’t have Development Cost Charges associated with them, whereas the primary dwellings would.

Under the proposed zoning amendments, secondary suites and accessory dwellings would be permitted on all properties with single-detached properties with the exception of those zoned Semi-Detached Residential and Hillside Residential Multi-Family properties.

Secondary suites would also be permitted on all properties with semi-detached housing with the exception of Rural Small Holding, Rural Large Holdings, Rural Residential, Estate Lot Residential, Large Lot Residential and Medium Lot Residential properties. Properties with semi-detached homes would not be permitted to also house accessory dwellings.

Everdene noted these changes would align with the goals of reducing barriers and incentivizing construction of secondary suites and secondary dwellings within the city’s Housing Action Plan, which was endorsed in 2022.

The city’s long range planner added the Regional District of North Okanagan held a housing design competition to find options on smaller dwellings that could be built in the North Okanagan, and these changes would allow those types of units to be built in Vernon. The building plans can be purchased from the RDNO by developers or homeowners.

Everdene also stated the changes align with the Homes for People program the province plans to roll out in the spring of 2024, which will see funding provided through B.C. Housing to develop affordable rental units, such as secondary suites and accessory dwellings.

Vernon’s long range planner added that these types of housing options would not just be beneficial to renters, but could also create more inter-generational home options in the city with grandparents or young adults taking up the additional units.

There were also no regulations restricting the homeowner to the primary dwelling, meaning they could live in the secondary suite or accessory dwelling and rent out the main home.

Vernon council voted unanimously in favour of accepting the report for information and supporting in principle the bylaw amendments. Council also supported in principle releasing all restrictive covenants in the City of Vernon prohibiting secondary suites in semi-detached homes.

Provincial legislation that just received Royal Assent is changing the process for public hearings on projects that fit within a municipality’s Official Community Plan, a meeting to gather feedback from local residents may not be needed to move forward with these changes. The City of Vernon is reviewing the provincial policies to determine if a public hearing would be required for these amendments.