Athens zoning for small homes

Township of Athens, in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville. Population 3,042 (2021 census).

Backyard suite

A separate home in the yard of a house: garden suite, laneway suite or coach house, including prefab, modular or container units used this way.

Allowed · Athens’s term: “additional residential unit”

Section 3.2 permits one additional residential unit in a building accessory to a single, semi-detached or row dwelling, with up to two ARUs per lot. It must share the principal dwelling's well and septic, the lot must abut an improved street, and ARUs are not permitted within 300 m of Charleston Lake or on island lots.

Number allowed: Maximum two ARUs per lot: one within or added to the dwelling and one in an accessory building (s. 3.2.1-2) [1]
Maximum height: 6 m for an ARU in an accessory building (s. 3.2.2) [1]
Where allowed: Where a single, semi-detached or row dwelling is permitted; not within 300 m of Charleston Lake or on an island lot; lot must abut an improved street (s. 3.2.4-5) [1]
Servicing: Connected to the same well and sewage disposal system as the principal dwelling; septic approval and proof of sufficient well water before building permit (s. 3.2.3, 3.2.7) [1]
Parking: One off-street space in addition to the principal dwelling's; tandem parking permitted (s. 3.2.6) [1]
Separation from house: Minimum 1 m between a detached accessory building and any other building (s. 3.1.4) [1]
Setbacks: Accessory buildings may sit in a required interior side or rear yard with a minimum yard of 1 m on Settlement Area lots and 3 m on other lots (s. 3.1.6.2) [1]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law stops municipalities from banning one residential unit in a building ancillary to a detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse on a parcel of urban residential land, as long as the lot has no more than three units in total. Municipalities still set most other zoning rules, but provincial law limits parking requirements, minimum unit size, lot coverage and separation distances. These units are also exempt from development charges and parkland dedication. [2][3][4]

Tiny home on a foundation

A small house as the main home on its own lot. The key rule is any minimum dwelling size.

Allowed · Athens’s term: “single dwelling”

The residential zone provisions (e.g. R1) set lot area, frontage, yards, height and coverage but no minimum floor area for a single dwelling.

Minimum dwelling size: No minimum dwelling floor area in the R1 zone provisions (s. 5.1.2); the only dwelling floor-area minimum found is 60 m² for a mobile home used as an alternative dwelling in the RU and A zones [1]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law sets no minimum total size for a house that is the main dwelling. The Building Code sets minimum room areas, so the smallest compliant dwelling is roughly 17.5 m² by the Province's own estimate. Municipalities may still set minimum floor areas for main dwellings in their zoning by-laws. The provincial ban on minimum sizes covers only additional residential units. [2][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Tiny home on wheels or park model

Living full-time in a tiny home on wheels or a park model home.

Allowed with limits · Athens’s term: “mobile home / recreational vehicle”

Recreational vehicles, travel trailers and tent trailers may not be used as a dwelling except in a tourist campground or temporarily during construction. In the Rural (RU) and Agricultural (A) zones, one CSA Z240 mobile home of at least 60 m² is permitted as an alternative to a dwelling, and mobile homes are also permitted in the Mobile Home Park Residential (RMH) zone.

Where allowed: RU and A zones: one mobile home with a minimum floor area of 60 m² as an alternative to a dwelling (s. 10 and 11 additional provisions); Mobile Home Park Residential (RMH) zone (s. 5.4) [1]
Temporary garden suite: 'Garden suite' is defined as a portable dwelling for elderly family members for which a temporary use by-law has been adopted under the Planning Act (s. 2) [1]
Approvals: RV/travel trailer/tent trailer habitation prohibited except in a tourist campground or as a temporary use during construction of a dwelling, for at most two years from building permit issuance (s. 3.15.3, 3.26) [1]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario has no single rule for living full-time in a tiny home on wheels. A unit on wheels can count as a 'building' that needs a permit and must meet the Building Code once it stays in one place, is hooked up to services or is anchored. Park model trailers are recognized only as seasonal recreational buildings. Municipalities may allow a portable garden suite under a temporary-use by-law for up to 20 years, with extensions of up to 3 years each. [10][5][2][7][6]

Bunkie or sleeping cabin

A small sleeping building with no kitchen, usually beside a cottage or house.

Not allowed · Athens’s term: “sleeping cabin”

The by-law defines a sleeping cabin, but section 3.1.1 says accessory buildings shall not be used for human habitation or as a sleeping cabin except as specifically permitted elsewhere. Section 3.15 also bars buildings accessory to a residential use from use as a sleeping cabin, and no zone provision permitting one was found.

Kitchen: Sleeping cabin defined as sleeping/guest accommodation without washroom or kitchen facilities (s. 2) [1]
Approvals: Accessory buildings shall not be used for human habitation and/or a sleeping cabin except as specifically permitted elsewhere (s. 3.1.1); no building accessory to a residential use may be used as a dwelling, sleeping cabin or for human habitation (s. 3.15.2) [1]

Ontario-wide rule

Ontario law has no rule written specifically for bunkies or sleeping cabins. Whether one needs a building permit depends on the Building Code Act's definition of 'building' and the Code's shed exemption. That exemption covers only storage-use sheds, so it does not cover a structure used for sleeping. Municipal zoning rules for accessory buildings still apply. [7][5][2][11]

Official links

Last confirmed October 2026.

Notes and caveats

Read the July 2024 office consolidation, which is embedded on https://athenstownship.ca/document/2024-zoning-by-law-consolidation/. The consolidation says the original by-laws prevail if they differ. Amendments after July 2024, including the separately posted OP-update amendment, were not checked. The 'Floor Space Index' definition mentions sleeping cabins, but no zone provision permitting them was found in this consolidation.

Sources

Not legal advice

Confirm with your municipality before you buy, build or move in.

Suggest a correction or source

Know of a by-law change, an exception or an official page we missed? Tell us. An editor checks every suggestion before the page changes.

Find help nearby

We don’t have a directory page for Athens’s area yet. These cover all of Ontario.

All Ontario municipalities