Off-Grid Living in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Plaquemines Parish surprised me a bit in my research, because unlike a lot of rural Louisiana parishes, it actually has countywide zoning on the books (Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance No. 142) and a parish government that's fairly active in permitting. If you're picturing "off-grid" as "nobody's watching," I'd recalibrate that expectation here.

Zoning first, always. Plaquemines Parish's Planning and Zoning Department enforces a parish-wide zoning ordinance, and, oddly, the parish says its zoning maps aren't available online, so you actually have to call or email them with an address or parcel number to find out your district. If your plan doesn't fit the district, you'd need a Conditional Use approval from the Parish Council on recommendation from the Development Board. This is a parish-level rule, not a state one.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The Permits Department handles building, mobile home, trailer, and RV permits, and treats RVs and stick-built homes differently. Living in an RV outside a licensed park requires a temporary RV lot permit under a parish ordinance, and you'll need to comply with parish electrical, plumbing, fire, and building codes. There's also older trailer park ordinance language on the books about non-transferable permits. Bottom line: check zoning and flood elevation before you plan anything, per the parish's own FAQ.

Building permits. The parish administers permits locally but enforces the state-adopted 2021 IRC/IBC codes. You can act as your own contractor for a primary residence if you sign a notarized affidavit claiming exemption from licensure. Certain districts (2, 3, 4, 5) also require a debris container and a port-o-let on active construction/renovation sites, per parish ordinance.

Septic. This is genuinely unusual: Louisiana state law generally restricts parish planning commissions from regulating individual sewage systems without Louisiana Department of Health sign-off, but Plaquemines is one of a short list of parishes specifically named as exempt from that restriction. In practice, the parish's Sanitarian Services still handles wastewater treatment plant permitting, and installation must be done by a state-licensed installer. Composting toilets aren't addressed anywhere I could confirm, parish or state.

Greywater and rainwater don't have parish-specific rules I could confirm, so the state plumbing code (Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code) is the baseline.

Wells aren't separately regulated at the parish level as far as I found; that's a state (Office of Conservation) matter.

Utilities. No mandatory-hookup ordinance found. The parish does have a "vacancy permit" process for turning power/gas back on to an existing structure, requiring a licensed electrician or gas contractor, but that's a reconnection procedure, not a mandate to connect.

Call the parish offices below before you buy land or bring in a trailer, this is a place where the local rules genuinely differ from what you'd expect statewide.