RM zone, Toronto: Residential Multiple Zone

What the RM zone permits

• Dwelling unit in a permitted residential building type (10.80.20.40)
• Municipal shelter
• Park
• Detached house
• Semi-detached house
• Duplex (if zone label has no 'u' value or u >= 2)
• Triplex (if zone label has no 'u' value or u >= 3)
• Fourplex (if zone label has no 'u' value or u >= 4)
• Apartment building (if zone label has no 'u' value or u >= 5; u-test does not apply on lots abutting major streets)
• Townhouse (if zone label has no 'u' value or u >= 3, and only on a lot abutting a major street)
• With conditions (10.80.20.100): ambulance depot, cogeneration energy, community centre, crisis care shelter, day nursery, fire hall, garden suite, group home, home occupation, laneway suite, library, multi-tenant house, nursing home, place of worship, police station, private home daycare, public utility, renewable energy, residential care home, respite care facility, retirement home, secondary suite, seniors community house, short-term rental, transportation use

Standards

Other provisions in this section

• Chapter 900 exceptions (10.80.20.40(2)): despite 900.1.10(3) and 900.1.10(4)(A), a duplex, triplex, fourplex, townhouse or apartment building is permitted if it complies with the RM zone regulations, or is authorized by a Section 45 Planning Act minor variance.
• Ambulance depot, fire hall, police station: lot must front on a major street on the Policy Areas Overlay Map, or on a street intersecting a major street within 250 m of that intersection (10.80.20.100(1)).
• Cogeneration/renewable energy production must be combined with another permitted use on the lot and comply with all municipal, provincial and federal rules (10.80.20.100(2)).
• Community centre or library: lot must have a front or side lot line abutting a major street, or a street intersecting a major street with the lot within 80.0 m of the intersection (10.80.20.100(3)).
• Nursing home / retirement home: same major-street or within-80.0 m-of-intersection lot requirement (10.80.20.100(8)); a respite care facility must be combined with a nursing home or retirement home (13).
• Place of worship (10.80.20.100(9), under OLT appeal, not in force): comply with Section 150.50; lot line abutting a major street; lot area at least 2,000 m2; lot frontage at least 30 m; building GFA no more than 2,500 m2; lawfully existing places of worship exempt from the lot and GFA limits.
• Private home daycare play area must be fenced and not in the front yard or a side yard abutting a street (10.80.20.100(10)).
• Public utility may not be a sewage treatment plant, water filtration plant or above-ground water reservoir; a hydro transformer station or natural gas regulator station must be enclosed by walls and meet the RM lot coverage, setbacks and height (10.80.20.100(11),(12)).
• Specific use regulations apply: crisis care shelter s.150.20; day nursery s.150.45; group home / residential care home s.150.15; home occupation s.150.5; multi-tenant house s.150.25; secondary suite s.150.10; seniors community house s.150.30; short-term rental s.150.13; laneway suite s.150.8; garden suite s.150.7.
• Transportation use buildings must comply with all requirements for a building on that lot (10.80.20.100(17)).
• Ancillary buildings and structures are governed by Article 10.5.60, not Article 10.80.40 (10.80.40.1(1)).
• Main wall height (10.80.40.10(2)): for a detached or semi-detached house, the exterior main walls may be no higher than the greater of 7.0 m above established grade or 2.5 m less than the permitted max height, for either all side main walls over at least 70% of their width, or all front and rear main walls over at least 60% of width (lot frontage >= 12.0 m), 50% (frontage > 7.5 m and < 12.0 m) or 40% (frontage <= 7.5 m); does not apply to townhouses or apartment buildings on a lot abutting a major street.
• Main pedestrian entrance of a detached or semi-detached house: lowest point no higher than 1.2 m above established grade (10.80.40.10(4)).
• Dormers on a detached or semi-detached house of 2+ storeys are not main walls if in a roof directly above a compliant main wall and their total face width is no more than 40% of the width of the compliant main walls at the uppermost storey (10.80.40.10(5)).
• Flat or shallow roof (slope less than 1:10 over more than 50% of roof area) on a detached or semi-detached house: additional main walls may rise above the main wall height limit if the additional front and rear main walls are set back at least 1.4 m from the main walls below (10.80.40.10(6)).
• Maximum building length 17.0 m for a detached or semi-detached house (10.80.40.20(1)); on a lot whose required min frontage exceeds 12.0 m, a one-storey extension of up to 2.0 m is allowed if it is max 5.0 m high, no wider than 50% of the dwelling unit's widest width, and at least 3.0 m from each side lot line (10.80.40.20(2)).
• On a lot abutting a major street, maximum building length is 19.0 m for a townhouse and 25.0 m for an apartment building (10.80.40.20(3)).
• Maximum building depth: rear main wall of a detached or semi-detached house no more than 19.0 m from the required minimum front yard setback, excluding a compliant one-storey extension (10.80.40.30(1)).
• Platforms (decks/balconies) at or above the second storey: detached house max 4 total, no more than one per front, rear and each side, max 4.0 m2 each; semi-detached house max 3 per dwelling unit (one each on front, rear and exterior side), max 4.0 m2 each, rear platform at least 1.8 m from the common wall (10.80.40.50).
• Separation between main walls of the same apartment building or townhouse, or between residential buildings on the same lot: 5.5 m if no openings to dwelling units in one or more of the walls; 11.0 m if each wall has an opening to a dwelling unit (10.80.40.80).
• Lawfully existing buildings keep their existing (lesser) main-wall separation; additions must meet the required separation or obtain a Section 45 minor variance (10.80.40.81).
• Category-wide residential regulations in Section 10.5 (e.g. 10.5.40.70(1) front yard setback based on neighbouring buildings) and Chapter 5 general regulations also apply.