Off-Grid Living in Old Lyme, Connecticut

I've been digging into what off-grid living would actually look like in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and the short version is: this is a zoned town with an active, recently-updated regulatory framework, not a quiet backwater where nobody's watching. If you're picturing raw land and a cabin with no permits, temper that picture.

Zoning. Old Lyme has its own Zoning Commission and a locally-adopted Zoning Regulations document, administered under the town's home-rule authority plus the state Zoning Enabling Act. As of December 2025 the Commission finished a "Phase 1" rewrite that trimmed and cleaned up the regs. The town is split into base districts plus overlays, including a Connecticut River Gateway Conservation Zone (state-authorized under CGS Chapter 477a), a Flood Plain Zone, and Aquifer Protection Zones. The key rule to internalize: any use of land or a structure not specifically listed as permitted in that district's rules is prohibited by default. If your plan doesn't fit neatly, the path is a variance through the Zoning Board of Appeals, not just going ahead.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found no Old Lyme-specific rule addressing tiny homes or RVs as full-time residences. What I can say is that the Building Department enforces the state building code and won't issue a certificate of occupancy without meeting it, so any small or alternative dwelling has to clear both the zoning use test and the occupancy process. Treat this as unconfirmed detail and call the Building Department before you commit money.

Building permits. The Building Department (Town of Old Lyme) issues permits for essentially everything, structural, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, gas, even temporary tents. The state's 2020 Connecticut State Building Code (based on the 2021 ICC codes) applies to permit applications from October 2022 forward.

Septic and composting toilets. Old Lyme regulates on-site sewage disposal locally through a joint effort of the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) and the Director of Health, using a certified sanitarian under state law (Chapter 395 CGS). The WPCA can flag "areas of special concern" with tougher standards, and in at least one part of town the state's DEEP rejected alternative septic systems outright, forcing a shift to sewers, a good reminder that the state, not just the town, has final say. I did not find specific composting-toilet language in the ordinance text.

Greywater. Genuinely unclear. No Old Lyme ordinance and no confirmed state baseline turned up in my research, so I'd call this unresolved until the town or state clarifies.

Rainwater harvesting. Nothing town-specific beyond the general Building Code permitting process, so this looks permitted, just run it through the Building Department.

Wells. The town collects well and septic information, historically with a filing deadline, and there are water-treatment/wastewater guideline documents in the Building Department's forms library. Private wells are real but paperwork-heavy here.

Off-utility living. The Director of Health has inspection authority over dwelling conditions under the town's Housing Standards, and no certificate of occupancy issues without code compliance. Living fully disconnected from utilities would run against how occupancy is currently enforced.

Bottom line: Old Lyme is not hostile to homesteading instincts, but it is a fully zoned, code-enforcing town layered with state environmental oversight (DEEP, aquifer protection, the Gateway Conservation Zone). Confirm everything with the actual offices before you buy land.