Zoning · Hamilton · Commercial

C6 zone, Hamilton: District Commercial (C6) Zone

Section 10.6 (Regulations: Section 10.6.3; Gas Bar/Service Station: Section 10.6.4) of the City of Hamilton Zoning By-law 05-200, as amended by 17-240, 17-240-OLT-05, 19-062, 21-189, 23-079, 24-137, 25-155, 26-016.

A neighbourhood shopping zone for retail, services, restaurants and offices, often in plaza form along busier roads with buildings kept close to the street; apartments are allowed above the ground floor but the zone is meant to be mainly commercial.

Is a property in the C6 zone? Enter its address and the lookup returns the zone and these standards, including any site-specific exception.

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What the C6 zone permits

Artist Studio
Beverage Making Establishment
Catering Service
Child Care Centre
Commercial Entertainment
Commercial Parking Facility
Commercial Recreation
Commercial School
Communications Establishment
Community Garden
Conference or Convention Centre
Craftsperson Shop
Dwelling Unit, Mixed Use
Financial Establishment
Funeral Home
Hotel
Laboratory
Medical Clinic
Microbrewery
Motor Vehicle Gas Bar
Motor Vehicle Rental Establishment
Motor Vehicle Service Station
Motor Vehicle Washing Establishment
Office
Personal Service
Place of Assembly
Repair Service
Restaurant
Retail
Self Storage Facility
Social Services Establishment
Transportation Depot
Urban Farm
Urban Farmers Market
Veterinary Service

Standards

Requirement	By-law
Minimum front yard	1.5 mBuilding setback from a Street Line: minimum 1.5 m; maximum 4.5 m except where a visibility triangle is required for a driveway access; 6.0 m for the portion of a building providing an access driveway to a garage; the setback does not apply to any portion of a building exceeding the facade-width requirement of 10.6.3 g) ii)/iii). Gas Bar / Service Station: minimum 4.5 m (10.6.4 a)).
Minimum interior side yard	1.5 m1.5 m; 4.5 m abutting a Residential or Institutional Zone or a lot containing residential use.
Minimum exterior side yard	1.5 mSame 'setback from a Street Line' rule as the front: minimum 1.5 m, maximum 4.5 m (except visibility triangle), 6.0 m for a garage access driveway portion; 4.5 m minimum for Gas Bar / Service Station.
Minimum rear yard	6 m6.0 m; 7.5 m abutting a Residential or Institutional Zone or a lot containing a residential use; on a corner lot where the rear lot line abuts a street line, the street-line setback of 10.6.3 a) applies instead.
Maximum building height	14 m
Maximum gross floor area	1000010,000.0 m² per individual commercial use; 2,000.0 m² for Office use; 10,000 m² maximum for a Self Storage Facility; 175.0 m² for accessory retail to a Motor Vehicle Gas Bar.

Other provisions in this section

Mixed-use dwelling units (10.6.1.1 i)): in buildings under 4,650 m² GFA, permitted only above the ground floor (except access, accessory office and utility areas) and may not exceed 50% of the total GFA of all buildings on the lot; in buildings of 4,650 m² or more, permitted only above the ground floor (same exceptions). Dwelling units are also permitted in a basement or cellar (10.6.1.1 i) 3.).
Self Storage Facility (10.6.1.1 ii)): not permitted on the ground floor except access, loading, utility areas and accessory retail/office; max 50% of the ground-floor facade width facing a Street Line may be self storage; no direct access to internal parking/loading along the ground-floor facade facing the front lot line other than an access driveway; no direct vehicular access to storage units; max GFA 10,000 m².
Garden Centre and Motor Vehicle Dealership are permitted only as accessory uses (10.6.2).
Built form for new buildings/additions (10.6.3 g)): rooftop mechanical equipment screened from any abutting street; on an interior or through lot the ground-floor facade facing the front lot line must be at least 40% of the front lot line length; on a corner lot the ground-floor facade facing a street line must be at least 50% of the total length of all lot lines abutting a street; facade width excludes access driveways and required yards; new commercial buildings under 650 m² GFA within existing commercial development are exempt from the facade-width rules.
No parking, stacking lanes or aisles between a building facade and the front or flankage lot line, except for portions of a building exceeding the facade-width requirement (10.6.3 g) vi)).
At least one principal entrance must be in the ground-floor facade closest to a street, accessible directly from the public sidewalk (10.6.3 g) vii)).
A walkway is permitted in a required Planting Strip (10.6.3 g) viii)).
Planting Strip: minimum 1.5 m wide where a lot line abuts a Residential or Institutional Zone lot line (not a laneway) (10.6.3 h)); for Gas Bar / Service Station, minimum 3.0 m planting strip abutting any street line or Residential/Institutional Zone lot line, except at ingress/egress points (10.6.4 c)).
Visual barrier required along any lot line abutting a Residential, Institutional or Downtown (D5) Zone per Section 4.19 (10.6.3 i)).
No outdoor storage of goods, materials or equipment; retail display accessory to a Retail use is permitted only in a front or flankage yard (10.6.3 j)).
Gas Bar / Service Station: fuel pump islands, fuel pumps and canopies must be at least 4.5 m from any lot line (10.6.4 b)).
Accessory buildings per Section 4.8 (10.6.5); parking per Section 5 (10.6.6); Urban Farm per Section 4.26; Community Garden per Section 4.27; Urban Farmers Market per Section 4.28.

Source: Section 10.6 (Regulations: Section 10.6.3; Gas Bar/Service Station: Section 10.6.4), By-law 05-200 (City of Hamilton), checked 2026-09-12. General provisions elsewhere in the by-law (parking, driveways, accessory buildings) also apply, and a numbered exception on the parcel can change any value here. Treat this as a pre-check, not a sign-off.

Other commercial zones in Hamilton: C1, C2, C3, C7, E1, S2, TOC2