Kamloops city council has given first and second readings to a zoning bylaw amendment that would expand the types of home-based businesses allowed to host clients and remove long-standing restrictions on office development along Notre Dame Drive.

Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 55-107 was advanced following a staff presentation and council discussion at the Feb. 3 meeting and will now proceed to a public hearing.

Long history, gradual expansion

Presenting the report, Community Planning Manager Stephen Bentley said home-based business regulations have existed in Kamloops since 1998 and were originally designed to support small-scale entrepreneurship while preserving residential neighbourhood character.

“Historically, we haven’t allowed customer or client visits to home-based businesses, except for tutoring and music classes,” Bentley told council. “Over time, council has given direction to gradually open this up.”

That evolution included changes in 2021 to allow limited client visits for personal services, personal training, animal grooming, and artisan and photography studios, followed by the addition of registered massage therapy in 2023.

“At that time, there was a sentiment expressed by council to explore this further,” Bentley said. “We committed to doing that work through our new Official Community Plan, and we did that last year.”

Balanced approach to business growth

Bentley said staff reviewed home-based business regulations across other B.C. municipalities and consulted with local business organizations, including the Kamloops & District Chamber of Commerce and business improvement associations.

“Some communities are very open, but there were concerns locally about opening the floodgates too much,” he said. “The big question was how this might impact existing commercial areas and the vibrancy of our downtown, North Shore and other business districts.”

As a result, KAMPLAN 2025 supports a limited expansion rather than allowing all professional uses to operate from homes with client visits.

“We think this is a balanced approach,” Bentley said. “We’ve added some additional professional-type categories like bookkeeping, accounting, marketing and insurance, along with some non-professional uses in the arts, horticulture and sewing.”

What the bylaw allows — and restricts

Under the proposed amendment, eligible home-based businesses would be limited to one client at a time and a maximum of nine client visits per day. Client visits would be by appointment only and limited to one vehicle on site at a time, with no street parking permitted.

Bentley noted the definition of “client” has been relaxed to include couples or families attending together.

“That could be couples counselling or a family photo shoot,” he said. “They’d still be considered a single client.”

Existing regulations around noise, dust, fumes, signage, parking and floor space would remain in place, and enforcement would continue on a complaint basis.

“We expect minimal adverse impact,” Bentley said. “A lot of established businesses will remain in commercial areas because of visibility, parking and scale.”

Council also heard that the city plans to monitor the health of commercial areas over the coming years.

“We have a policy in the Official Community Plan to monitor the vibrancy of our commercial areas,” Bentley said. “That’s something we’ll be working on as we move toward the next OCP update.”

Support from council

Councillor Katie Neustaeter praised staff for responding to community needs and council direction, noting the changes stemmed from earlier work to allow registered massage therapists to operate from home.

“This is a ton of work, and I think you’ve achieved a really great balance,” Neutaeter said. “It recognizes the importance of small business and employment, especially right now.”

She said the changes could also encourage better compliance.

“I hope this encourages people to get proper licensing — people who might not have a licence now because they were concerned they couldn’t operate responsibly from home,” she said. “This helps us understand what services exist in our city and where gaps might be.”

Accessibility concerns raised

Councillor Stephen Karpuk raised concerns about accessibility, asking whether home-based businesses would be required to meet the same standards as commercial spaces.

Bentley acknowledged that home-based businesses are regulated under residential building code requirements, not commercial ones.

“I’ll be honest — we can’t guarantee accessibility in a small home-based business,” he said. “That’s not because we’re trying to discriminate, but because imposing full commercial accessibility requirements would be very onerous.”

Bentley added that business owners could exceed minimum requirements if they choose, but noted that established commercial areas remain important for inclusive, accessible services.

“That’s partly why we have commercial areas — sidewalks, ramps, accessible washrooms — all of that,” he said.

Office use allowed on Notre Dame Drive

The bylaw also removes a restriction that has prohibited office uses on C6 (Arterial Commercial) zoned properties along Notre Dame Drive.

Bentley described the restriction as a legacy of the 2001 McGill Corridor Plan, which prioritized office development along McGill Road and downtown.

“It made sense at the time,” he said. “But we’re wanting to be more flexible and open.”

KAMPLAN 2025 redesignates the Notre Dame Drive corridor as Mid-Rise Commercial, which supports office uses alongside retail and residential development.

“This is really just updating the zoning to be consistent with the Official Community Plan,” Bentley said.

Next steps

Councillor Mike O’Reilly said he would support sending the bylaw to a public hearing, but sought clarification on whether business groups had been consulted specifically on the amendment.

Bentley confirmed they had been.

Council ultimately voted unanimously to give the bylaw first and second readings and advance it to a public hearing. Final adoption will be subject to approval by the Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

“This will hopefully benefit a large number of very small businesses,” said Councillor Nancy Bepple, noting that home-based businesses make up a significant portion of Kamloops’ business licences.

The date of the public hearing has not yet been announced.