Municipality of French River

All manufactured homes must be manufactured no later than 10 years from the date it is placed on a lot and must have a BC registration number according to Zoning Bylaw 3.58.

12.0 MANUFACTURED HOME PARK – MHP Permitted Uses 

12.1 The following uses and no others are permitted in the MHP zone: 

   .1 Manufactured home park; 

   .2 Home occupation; and 

   .3 Accessory building.

   .4 Backyard Hen Keeping. Regulations 

12.2 On a parcel located in an area zoned as MHP, no building or structure shall be constructed, located or altered, and no plan of subdivision approved which contravenes the regulations set out in this section. Column I sets out the matter to be regulated and Column II sets out the regulation. COLUMN I COLUMNII 

   .1 Minimum parcel size 2 ha 

   .2 Minimum size for a bare land strata lot 372 m2 

   .3 Minimum frontage 50.0 m 

   .4 Minimum frontage for a bare land strata lot 15.0 m 

   .5 Maximum density 22 manufactured homes per hectare of useable site area 

   .6 Minimum setback from parcel lines for principal building: 

• .1 Front parcel line 
• .2 Rear parcel line 
• .3 Interior side parcel line
•  .4 Exterior side parcel line 4.0 m 2.0 m 1.5 m 3.0 m

   .7 Maximum height of: 

• .1 Principal building 
• .2 Accessory building 7.5 m 3.0 m  

   .9 Maximum building area for one (1) accessory building per dwelling unit: 55.0 m2 

Development Assurances and Timeline Requirements

District-owned lands will be sold for the purpose of immediate development and use. In order to ensure appropriate and timely development, Council may require that a particular property be sold subject to the purchaser granting the District a covenant promising to develop the land in accordance with approved plans, and an option to repurchase the property for 90% of the purchaser’s purchase price, plus the fair market value of improvements, should the purchaser fail to substantially complete all improvements within the required timeline. Two years will be the standard development timeline, though Council may, by resolution, approve longer timelines or grant extensions upon request.

For the purposes of the land sale policy, an improvement will be considered “substantially complete” once the improvement or a substantial part of it is ready for use or is being used for the purpose intended.

Council will accept the consolidation of properties as a form of development.

Please review the District's Land Sale Policy TR 38 for requirements and for detailed information on the process.

Land, or land covered by water like rivers or lakes that's owned by the provincial government is called Crown land. This type of land is available to the public for many different purposes – from industry to recreation and research. The uses include: 

• Aggregates and quarry materials
• Agriculture
• Airports
• Aquaculture
• Clean energy
• Commercial uses
• Communication sites
• Community Institutional Program
• Industrial uses
• Recreation and tourism
• Residential uses
• Roadways
• Utilities

At this time, there are no formal incentive programs in place for private development. Saying that; the District would like to state that we are willing to negotiate and explore creative (but legal) ways in which prioritized development targets that can be brought to fruition. Keep in mind that all British Columbia municipalities are strictly prohibited from providing assistance to businesses, so whatever approaches are considered, they must remain within the legal boundaries established by the province.

The typical process used by Council to identify a preferred purchaser will involve the following:

• The District will accept letters of interest from prospective purchasers. Letters of interest should include the legal description of the property of interest, the name of the proposed purchaser and/or representative, the proposed purchase price and the intended use of the land;

• Council, at its discretion, can choose one of the following options:

- Enter into negotiations with one of the prospective purchasers to develop the terms and conditions for a purchase and sale agreement;

- Establish a formal, competitive Request for Proposal process which will help Council identify the preferred purchaser. Selection criteria could include purchase price, compliance with municipal plans, provision of amenities and timing of development. Once a preferred proponent is identified, the District would enter into negotiations to develop the terms and conditions for a purchase and sale agreement.

• The selection of a preferred process (RFP or direct sale) may be based on the level of interest in a particular property, the appraised value of the property, and the community significance of the property (i.e. located in the town centre) or any other factor that Council deems important to the disposition of a particular property;

• Once a preferred proponent is identified, the District will provide a letter of intent to enter into negotiations to the preferred proponent;

• Once a purchase and sale agreement is signed, a deposit for 10% of the purchase price or $3000, whichever is greater, shall be provided.

Please review the District's Land Sale Policy TR 38 for requirements and for detailed information on the process.

Some. Keep in mind that municipalities are strictly governed on how they sell property. In particular, they are prohibited from selling property below market value, in other words, the price that people are willing to pay for a similar piece of land. The other thing that the District must consider is the effect that a particular sale will have on the values of similar properties in the community. If we sell a lot at an unusually low price, we will erode the value of similar properties currently held in private hands.

For more information on this subject please visit: 

Land Transfers in Northeast British Columbia - govTogetherBC

A Zoning Bylaw controls the use of land in a community and generally sets out:

• How land and buildings may be used.
• Where buildings and other structures can be located.
• Lot sizes and dimensions, parking requirements and building heights.

A typical Zoning Bylaw maps out delineated areas, referred to as zones, each of which possess a particular series of permitted uses and building regulations. This is an extremely important element of District legislation because it:

• Implements the objectives and policies of a municipality's Official Plan.
• Provides a legal way of managing land use and future development.
• Protects residents from conflicting and possibly dangerous land uses in the community.

An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a legal document for planning and managing the District’s social, economic and physical future. It contains land use and other maps to guide development in the municipality. It is a long-range vision for the District that informs people about where growth will occur in the future and the character of that growth. The plan should reflect overall community values for the town which have been determined through a public participation process.

Council and staff use the OCP when making decisions about zoning, development and service provision.
Residents and potential purchasers use the OCP to determine what will happen in a particular neighbourhood or commercial area in the future.
Both also use the OCP to understand which areas are suitable for development and which are not (environmentally sensitive areas, steep slopes, hazardous areas, etc.).

All municipal policies, plans and regulations related to physical development must be in alignment with the OCP Bylaw, so it is a powerful guide to District decision-making.

The OCP provides, in words and through a series of maps, the vision for future land use as generalized future land designations. Goals, objectives, and policies support the land use components of housing, employment and business, parks and open space, commercial core aesthetics and community facilities.

An effective OCP provides clear direction but does not preclude change to the plan based on evolving circumstances or interpretation of policies by Council and staff. In this way, an OCP is often considered a “living document”.

The interactive PRRD Web Map is a resource that is used to:

• Locate a 911 civic address;
• Determine the zoning/Official Community Plan of a property;
• Determine if you are inside or outside of a fire protection;
• Search for property information by Legal Descriptions, PID, and Roll Numbers;
• Creating small maps

Interactive Web Map - Peace River Regional District (prrd.bc.ca) 

If you are looking for something located outside of the Peace River Regional District you can use the myLTSA ParcelMap BC Search.