Off-Grid Living in Union County, Indiana

Union County, Indiana is a rural spot where off-grid living is possible but not a free-for-all. I've dug through the county's own pages and here's what I found, with the caveat that a couple of gaps mean you'll want to call the offices below before you buy land or start building.

Zoning. Union County isn't one of those places with no zoning at all. The Union County Area Plan Commission administers a countywide zoning ordinance with agricultural, residential, and other districts, and there's a Board of Zoning Appeals if you need a variance. The towns of Liberty and West College Corner work through this same county-level Area Plan structure rather than running their own separate zoning shops. So your first stop for "can I do this here" is always the Area Plan office, not the town clerk.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The county ordinance is fairly blunt: mobile homes are permitted only in mobile home parks, with a narrow exception letting an existing mobile home be swapped for a newer one (no older than ten years) under a building permit. I did not find anything on the county's site specifically addressing tiny homes on wheels or long-term RV living outside a park, so treat that as an open question for the Area Plan office rather than assume it's fine.

Building permits. Union County requires a permit for any structure above a fairly low value threshold, issued through the Area Plan/Building Inspector's office. You'll need a septic permit, a site plan, building plans, and proof your property taxes are current, all before you get the permit. Permits also expire if the work drags on too long, so keep that in mind if you're building slowly. Driveways need separate sign-off from the County Highway Department before you cut one in.

Septic. The Union County Health Department's Environmental Division handles septic permitting under the state's onsite sewage rule (410 IAC 6-8.3), and wants a site plan and a certified soil evaluation. Composting toilets aren't mentioned on the county site one way or the other, so that's genuinely unclear at the local level. One wrinkle: if your parcel falls inside the Brookville Lake Regional Waste District's service boundary, you may be required to connect to their sewer system rather than rely on a private septic system, so a Letter of Availability from that district is worth checking on early.

Greywater and rainwater. I couldn't find any Union County-specific rules on either. That means you're working off Indiana's general (and fairly loose) state baseline, but I'd still ask the Area Plan or Health Department directly since local silence isn't the same as local permission.

Wells. Wells fall under the Indiana DNR's Division of Water at the state level; I didn't find a county well ordinance layered on top. The Waste District governs sewer, not well water, so it shouldn't interfere with a private well outside its service area.

Utility disconnection. No countywide mandatory hookup ordinance turned up in my research, so going off-grid on power and water looks feasible outside the Waste District's mapped area. Inside that district's boundary, though, sewer connection appears to be required, which would rule out relying purely on a septic system there. </body_md> <meta_description>Off-grid living rules in Union County, Indiana: zoning, building permits, septic, wells, and utility hookup research with sources.</meta_description> <summary>Union County, Indiana has countywide zoning and building permit requirements administered by the Area Plan Commission, plus state-regulated septic and well rules, but greywater, rainwater, and tiny-home/RV specifics are not clearly addressed locally so you should confirm directly with the county.</summary>