Off-Grid Living in Paris, Maine

I've been digging into what it actually takes to live off-grid in Paris, Maine, and here's the honest picture based on what the town and state publish.

Zoning: yes, Paris is zoned. This isn't unincorporated territory where you can just do what you want on raw land. The Town of Paris Planning Department administers a Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and Subdivision Ordinance, plus a separate Site Plan Ordinance that kicks in for new structures and new land uses, with some carve-outs for agriculture, forestry, and very small outbuildings (under a hundred square feet). If you're eyeing a specific parcel, the Planning Department is who to call before you buy.

Tiny homes and RVs as full-time dwellings: genuinely unclear. I couldn't find a Paris-specific ordinance that spells out whether a tiny house or RV can be your permanent residence. The Site Plan Ordinance mentions a size threshold (structures over two hundred square feet needing a Certificate) that hints smaller structures get different treatment, but that's not the same as a clear yes on tiny homes or RVs. This is a "call the Code Enforcement Officer before you commit" situation, not a guess-and-hope one.

Building permits: required, full stop. Paris has one Code Enforcement Officer, Chris Summers, who also serves as Building Inspector, Plumbing Inspector, and Health Officer. He handles everything from shed permits to commercial construction and renovations, so basically any structure you build off-grid needs to go through his office.

Septic and composting toilets: permitted, but it's a state process administered locally. Maine's DHHS/CDC Subsurface Wastewater Program sets the actual rules, and Summers, as the certified local Plumbing Inspector, issues the permits for new, replacement, or repaired systems. Composting toilets would likely fall into this same state wastewater framework, so confirm specifics with his office.

Greywater: no separate Paris ordinance exists. It rides along with the same state subsurface wastewater rules the septic system does, enforced locally by the Plumbing Inspector.

Rainwater harvesting: I found nothing in Paris's ordinance list addressing this either way. That's not a green light or a red light, it's just silence, so I'd confirm with the Code Enforcement Officer or Planning Department directly if this is central to your plan.

Private wells: not separately regulated at the town level beyond what the State of Maine's well rules already require. Paris does have a Wellhead Protection ordinance, but that protects public water supply source areas, not private well drilling on your own land.

Going fully off-grid (no utility hookups): there's no explicit town ban I could find, but you're not free of oversight either. Everything routes through the building, plumbing, and septic permitting process that Summers oversees, described in his own words as covering "a great number of regulations and requirements set forth by residents of Paris and by the State of Maine."

Bottom line: Paris is a regulated New England town, not a legal grey zone, so plan on permits and phone calls, not just a shovel and a dream.