Off-Grid Living in Moultrie County, Illinois

I've been digging into Moultrie County, Illinois for off-grid prospects, and the first thing I need to say plainly: this county has countywide zoning, but that authority stops at the edge of any incorporated town. Allenville, Arthur, Bethany, Dalton City, Gays, Lovington, and Sullivan each run their own ordinances that override the county's rules inside city limits. Step one for any property here is figuring out whether you're inside or outside a municipal boundary, because the rest of this guide mostly applies to unincorporated land.

Zoning. Unincorporated Moultrie County operates under a countywide zoning ordinance (Zoning Ordinance 77-1) administered by the Planning & Zoning Department. It covers permitted uses, setbacks, and a process for special-use permits or variances when you want to do something the base zoning district doesn't allow outright. If your parcel sits inside Sullivan or another town, that town's own code governs instead.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. This is genuinely restricted, not a simple yes. The county amended its ordinance specifically for manufactured homes, setting out criteria that must all be met to place one without triggering a special-use permit hearing. There's also a separate ordinance addressing campers or trailer coaches used as permanent residences, which tells me the county treats RV-as-dwelling setups as a distinct, regulated category, not something you can just do. I have not found specific size or foundation thresholds that would define a "tiny home" here, so confirm directly with Planning & Zoning before you commit to a structure type.

Building permits. The county adopted its own building code (with local amendments to the 2018 base codes) and handles permits, including free demolition permits, through the Planning & Zoning office for unincorporated land. Note that Illinois now requires all local codes to meet a new statewide baseline as of January 1, 2025, under Public Act 103-0510, so the county's code should be checked against that. Sullivan issues its own permits inside city limits.

Septic and wells. Both are handled locally by the Moultrie County Health Department, implementing Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) statewide codes for private sewage disposal and well construction. Composting toilets aren't separately addressed in anything I found, so they'd fall under the state baseline via IDPH, with the Health Department as the point of contact.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting. I couldn't confirm either one has specific county rules. Both appear to inherit whatever the state baseline is, and the Health Department's Environmental Health / Water Protection staff are the ones to ask before you build a system.

Utility disconnection. There's no standalone ordinance banning off-grid living I could find, but the manufactured-home and camper-as-residence rules effectively function as occupancy controls that could touch off-grid setups. Treat this as zoning-dependent and confirm your specific plan with the county.