Off-Grid Living in Hersey, Maine

Hersey, Maine is about as small as towns get, roughly 73 people at last count, and its rulebook reflects that. I want to be upfront: this is one of those places where the honest answer to "can I do this off-grid" is often "nobody has written a rule about it yet." That's not the same as a green light, so read carefully.

Zoning. Based on the town's own ordinances and policies page (hosted through Patten, which administers Hersey's municipal business), Hersey does not appear to have a comprehensive town-wide zoning or subdivision ordinance. It does have a commercial/industrial mining ordinance and a moratorium on large-scale solar energy systems, so those two uses are specifically regulated. Outside of that, Hersey is still subject to Maine's Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act, a state law administered through the Department of Environmental Protection, which requires shoreland protections within 250 feet of great ponds, rivers, and wetlands and 75 feet of streams. If a town hasn't adopted its own version, the state imposes a model ordinance automatically. I could not confirm from official sources whether Hersey has adopted its own shoreland ordinance or is living under the state's default one, so that's a direct question for the town office.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found nothing specific to Hersey on this. No ordinance addressing tiny homes, RVs, or seasonal versus permanent occupancy turned up on the town's pages.

Building permits and codes. This one comes down to a state law that limits what small towns can even do. Maine requires municipalities over 4,000 residents to adopt the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC), per the Maine Legislature's statute. Towns under that threshold, like Hersey at 73 residents, aren't required to adopt MUBEC, and interestingly can't adopt some other homemade code instead. Whether Hersey has voluntarily adopted MUBEC is not confirmed. Ask the town office directly.

Septic and greywater. Maine's Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules are a state program, and they're normally administered locally by a certified Code Enforcement Officer (CEO). State law (30-A MRSA §4451) spells out that a CEO's job covers shoreland zoning, plumbing, and subsurface wastewater. I don't have confirmation of who holds that role for Hersey specifically, so check with the Patten office, which handles Hersey's administrative functions.

Rainwater harvesting. No town or state rule specific to this turned up in my research.

Wells. No Hersey-specific ordinance found. This defaults to Maine's statewide well construction standards.

Utility disconnection. No explicit rule found either way. In a town this size, living off-grid in terms of power and water is likely to be a non-issue in practice, but it still flows through whatever septic and building requirements the CEO enforces.

Bottom line: Hersey's light regulatory footprint can be a real advantage for off-grid living, but "light" doesn't mean "none," and the shoreland and CEO questions are worth a phone call before you commit to a piece of land here.