Off-Grid Living in Farmington, Connecticut

I've been digging into what off-grid living would actually look like in Farmington, Connecticut, and the short version is: this is a fully zoned town, and both the Town and the regional health district keep a close hand on how you build, dispose of waste, and get water. Nothing here is "unregulated homesteading" territory.

Zoning. Farmington is divided into a bunch of residential, business, and industrial zones, all administered by the Town Plan & Zoning Commission. The zoning regulations state plainly that uses not clearly permitted in a given zone are prohibited, so before buying raw land with off-grid plans, I'd check with the Commission about what your specific parcel is zoned for.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I couldn't find text in the regulations specifically addressing tiny houses or RVs as permanent residences. Given the "not permitted = prohibited" structure of the zoning code, I'd treat this as restricted until you confirm directly with the Town's zoning staff.

Building permits. The Farmington Building Department runs an online permitting system covering building/zoning permits, sewer permits, and excavation permits. Any structure you build is going to need to go through that process.

Septic and composting toilets. This is where it gets specific: the Farmington Valley Health District (FVHD), the regional health authority for the town, requires that any building needing sewage disposal or a private water supply get its systems approved before construction, and before the building can even be occupied. The town's Sanitary Code does allow portable privies (a category composting toilets could plausibly fall under), but only if built to certain sanitary standards, so this is regulated, not banned.

Greywater reuse. The Sanitary Code addresses laundry/sink wastewater systems (requiring a septic tank and sewage system when no toilets are connected), but I didn't find a distinct greywater-reuse-for-irrigation provision. That's genuinely unclear, so ask FVHD directly.

Rainwater harvesting. I didn't find any Farmington-specific restriction, so this inherits Connecticut's state baseline, where rainwater collection is generally legal under the State Building Code.

Private wells. Same as septic, wells fall under FVHD approval before construction and before occupancy.

Living off-grid generally. The FVHD rule that no building can be occupied without approved sewage and water systems is the big one here. It means you can't just disconnect from utilities and self-supply water/waste without going through that approval process, regardless of whether you're on the electric grid.

Bottom line: Farmington isn't hostile to off-grid systems like wells, septic alternatives, or rainwater catchment, but everything runs through either the Town's zoning/building process or FVHD's health approvals. Nothing here is a DIY-and-hope situation.