Off-Grid Living in Woodbury, Connecticut

I've been digging through Woodbury, Connecticut's official town documents to figure out what off-grid living actually looks like here, and the short version is: this is a fully zoned town, so "off-grid" doesn't mean "off the books." Here's what I found.

Zoning. Woodbury has an active Zoning Commission operating under Connecticut General Statutes Title 8, Chapter 124, with its own adopted Zoning Regulations. The rule that matters most: no land or structure can be used, occupied, or changed in use until the Zoning Enforcement Officer issues a Zoning Permit. What you can actually do with a piece of land depends on which zoning district it sits in, per the town's official Zoning Map, so a rural-looking parcel isn't automatically free of use restrictions.

Dwellings, tiny homes, and RVs. The zoning code defines "use" very broadly, covering any purpose a lot or building is arranged or intended for. That almost certainly sweeps in tiny homes and RV-as-residence setups, but I could not find explicit town language spelling out how those specific dwelling types are treated. I'd call this one restricted in principle but genuinely unclear in the details, worth a direct call to the Zoning Enforcement Officer before you commit to a plan.

Building permits. The Building Official enforces the 2022 Connecticut State Building Code plus the town's own ordinances, and here's the catch: before a building permit is even issued, you need sign-off from Zoning, Historic, Sanitation, and Public Works. That's a multi-department gauntlet, not a single stop.

Septic and wells. This is where I found some real ambiguity. Woodbury's health department has historically operated as part of the Pomperaug District Department of Health, but the town's current website lists the Housatonic Valley Health District as the agency inspecting and approving septic systems and water supplies for Woodbury. That looks like a district transition that hasn't been fully reflected everywhere, so I'd confirm directly with the town which district currently has jurisdiction before assuming either one applies. I found nothing confirming whether composting toilets are accepted as a septic alternative here.

Greywater. No Woodbury-specific rule turned up in my research, so this defaults to the same "unclear" status Connecticut carries at the state level.

Rainwater harvesting. I didn't find any town restriction specific to Woodbury beyond the general building permit process, so this appears permitted under the usual building oversight.

Utility disconnection. No outright ban on living off-grid utility-wise, but a Certificate of Occupancy still depends on those same Zoning, Sanitation, and Public Works approvals mentioned above, so full self-sufficiency doesn't exempt you from the permitting chain.

Bottom line: Woodbury is not a place where you can quietly go off-grid on raw land. Every layer, zoning, building, septic, and well, runs through a named local or regional authority, and I'd get on the phone with them before buying land or building anything.