Off-Grid Living in Peru, Massachusetts

Peru, Massachusetts is a small Berkshire County hill town, and like most Massachusetts municipalities it is NOT unzoned. If you're picturing wide-open homesteading with no rules, that's not quite what you'll find here, though Peru is still fairly permissive by state standards.

Zoning: Peru has its own Zoning By-Law, administered by a Zoning Board of Appeals (five members plus two associates, appointed by the Board of Selectmen per Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A). The ZBA hears appeals and special permit requests. I'd confirm your parcel's district and any minimum lot size or setback rules directly with the town, since I could not verify every provision from the bylaw text itself. Worth noting: Peru's Town Meeting voted in 2020 to drop its own wetlands bylaw and instead rely on the state's Wetlands Protection Act and regulations, so if your site is near wetlands, that state layer (not a separate town bylaw) governs.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs: I did not find a Peru-specific rule on minimum dwelling size or living in an RV. Absent a stricter local provision, the state building code (which includes the IRC's Appendix Q tiny-house provisions) is the likely baseline, but ask the Building Department before you assume anything.

Building permits: Peru has an active Building Department, with permits submitted and paid online and Building Commissioner Tim Sears overseeing the process, plus a separate electrical inspector. This follows the statewide 780 CMR building code.

Septic and composting toilets: The Peru Board of Health, through its contracted Health Inspector/Registered Sanitarian, handles Title 5 work: perc test witnessing, septic plan review, inspections, and permits. This is the state's Title 5 program (310 CMR 15.000) administered locally. Composting toilets would fall under this same review.

Greywater: No Peru-specific greywater bylaw turned up in my research. That means the state Title 5 baseline applies, which generally treats greywater as wastewater needing an approved system, not something you can just pipe into your garden.

Rainwater harvesting: I found nothing specific to Peru here. Outdoor collection and use is generally fine everywhere in Massachusetts; using it indoors runs into plumbing code questions. Ask the Building Department for their read.

Wells: The Board of Health issues well permits and researches site suitability, consistent with the statewide arrangement where local boards of health oversee well siting and construction.

Off-grid utilities: I found no bylaw prohibiting disconnecting from the grid. The zoning bylaw does regulate wind turbines specifically, with FAA marking rules for tall structures and a 60-decibel noise limit on generating equipment. Solar generally just needs to meet the state building and electrical code through a licensed electrician.

Bottom line: Peru lets you live rural and self-sufficient, but every major system, septic, well, building, power generation, runs through a town office first.