City of Kimberley

Welcome to Planning Information Portal - a very helpful tool for finding planning and property information such as maps, zoning, assessment, utilities, bylaws and property search to assist your development and building inquiries.

The City of Kimberley's Planning Services are responsible for developing and implementing strategies, policies, and regulations to guide community growth and development - so that we keep aligned with our community's vision for the future, as outlined in the Official Community Plan.

Growing our community brings benefits - new businesses, fresh ideas, different perspectives - and as Kimberley grows, we want to make sure that we maintain our exceptional quality of life, local economy, and healthy environment. Our priority is to encourage thoughtful development that is senstive to the variety of interests and needs here in Kimberley.

Can't find what you're looking for? Have some helpful feedback for us? Please contact our Planning Services or Building Inspection departments at kimberley.ca/contact. 

Kimberley's Official Community Plan (OCP) was adopted in February 2018. The Plan establishes objectives and policies to guide local decisions on land use, infrastructure, environment, community facilities, transportation, social and economic issues. The OCP sets a high-level policy framework to anticipate and address future community needs. Council is also committed to collaborating with First Nations and local governments in our region to ensure that our local objectives align with their goals and the overall regional context. The Plan outlines Kimberley's land use objectives and policies for the next 25 years to guide decisions toward the community's desired vision for the future and to ensure that Kimberley continues as "a good place to be".

In November 2021, Council adopted the Short-term Rental (STR) Bylaw that will ensure safety and responsibility in the tourist rental market. The bylaw establishes clear policies to regulate short-term rentals throughout Kimberley that will enhance the visitor experience and improve our important tourist economy. The main goals of the bylaw are to:

• ensure building and occupant safety;
• reduce impacts to housing availability and affordability;
• reduce STR's impact on neighborhood character;
• reduce noise, parking and traffic problems and eliminate party houses;
• improve responsiveness to neighbor complaints;
• support compliant accommodation providers; and
• eliminate non-compliant unsafe or unauthorized accommodation providers.

Short-term rentals in Kimberley provide needed tourism accommodation in our community. The City of Kimberley currently allows short-term rentals in several of its neighbourhoods, most of which are located in the area surrounding the alpine resort. Most of these neighbourhoods allow for the short-term rental of entire homes and individual suites, but some neighbourhoods are limited to individual bedrooms within a home.

The City of Kimberley now requires operators of short-term rentals to hold licences for each short-term rental unit they operate to ensure that units are safe and operators are responsive to any concerns that may arise.

Visit Kimberley.ca for more information and access to the application guide and required forms.

Please note that we are aware of an issue with our site relating to the Tax Levy information showing on the Property Info tabs. If you search any property using the search tool at planning.kimberley.ca/properties and scroll down to view the assessment and tax levy information, please note that the value showing as "Tax Levy (2022)" for any property is actually the value of the 2020 tax levy for that property. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding while we continue to seek a resolution to this issue.

If you require current tax levy information for any property, please use the Property Tax search tool at Kimberley.ca or contact the Finance Services department to request a tax certificate.

Current assessed value information can be viewed by clicking the "BC Assessment" button on the same page or visit bcassessment.ca to search for any property by address, roll # or PID.

Did you know that the BC Building and Fire Codes are available on-line? 

You can find them at bcpublications.ca/bcpublications/

If you are constructing a new building, making structural changes to an existing one, installing a wood stove or changing the use or occupancy of a residential or commercial space, you’ll need to obtain a Building Permit from the City of Kimberley. 

Questions about building permits and inspection requirements? Check out the helpful information at kimberley.ca/planning-development/building or contact our Building Inspection department at kimberley.ca/contact. 

The C-1 Commercial Zone, which applies to most commercial properties in Kimberley outside of the Plaztl, was updated in 2017 to:

• Support more uses and provide greater variety business opportunities;
• Add or modify some definitions in order to provide greater clarity and reflect a more modern economy;
• Explicitly protect existing single-family use to alleviate concerns with evolving insurance and mortgage practices; and,
• Perform some general amendments for better consistency throughout the Bylaw, including the renaming of the C-1 Central Commercial Zone to C-1 Commercial Zone

New Uses

• Craft Breweries and Distilleries
• Multi-Family Dwellings
• Trades and Contracting Services
• Light Manufacturing and Produciton
• Food and Beverage Production
• Commercial Indoor Storage
• Place of Worship
• Commercial Parking Lots

All new uses are required to mitigate for noise, odours and must be completely contained within the principal building. 

Single-Family Dwelling Protection

Recent changes to financial and insurance regulations and practices have made existing single-family homes located in the C-1 zone difficult to sell or insure. A new clause in the C-1 zone allows not only for the continued use of single-family dwellings within in the zone, but the ability to maintain, upgrade and expand their use. This should elevate these properties values and make obtaining home-owner protection much more easier. 

The single-family use is only discontinued if the use changes to one of the other permitted uses or if destroyed beyond resonable recoverable amount. 

Basement exemption

Prior to this amendment, basements within zones under the Zoning Bylaw 1850 were included in the total gross floor area (GFA) which is used to determine a number of other calucations, including the floor space ratio (FSR). The new definition is now more consistant with the wording in the Alpine Resort Zoning Bylaw 2016 where basements - those areas more than 1.2m (4') below grade - are exempt from the GFA calculation. 

Need more information? Please contact the Planning Services department at www.kimberley.ca/contact.