Off-Grid Living in Bradley, Maine

I've been digging into Bradley, Maine for this guide, and the short version is: Bradley is a small town, but it is NOT an unregulated one. It has an adopted Land Use Ordinance, a Planning Board, a Code Enforcement Officer (CEO), and a separate Shoreland Zoning Ordinance for anything near water. If you're picturing quietly parking a camper on raw land and living undisturbed, Bradley's rules don't really leave room for that without at least talking to the town first.

Zoning. The Land Use Ordinance applies town-wide to new structures, enlargements, and new land uses, not just in the shoreland strip. The main exceptions carved out are agriculture, forest management, and small single-story outbuildings of 100 square feet or less. Anything else generally needs to go before the Planning Board, which by ordinance has 30 days from a public hearing (or 60 days from receiving the application) to approve, approve with conditions, or deny, unless everyone agrees to extend that.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I couldn't find explicit language in the ordinance defining tiny homes or RVs as dwellings one way or the other. What I did find is a size trigger: structures over 200 square feet needing a building permit require a Certificate. Given that ambiguity, I'd call this one "confirm before you commit" territory, and the CEO's office is who to ask.

Building permits. Bradley requires a Land Use/Building Permit for qualifying structures, administered by the CEO with Planning Board review. There's a fee involved (amount not stated in what I reviewed), and a CEO inspection form has to accompany the application. The town posts the actual forms online, including building/land-use, demolition, and shoreland permit applications.

Septic and composting toilets. No Bradley-specific restriction beyond the state's rules. Maine's Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules govern design and siting statewide, and Bradley's Local Plumbing Inspector (LPI) is the one who issues the permit locally. Composting toilet systems still fall under this state/local plumbing framework.

Greywater and rainwater. Greywater appears to ride on the same state rules via the LPI, with no separate Bradley overlay found. Rainwater harvesting I found nothing on at all, town or state, so treat that as genuinely unconfirmed.

Wells. No Bradley-specific well ordinance turned up. The state's Private Well Coordinator at Maine CDC is a real resource if you have siting questions.

Living off-grid generally. There's no ordinance clause I found that bans disconnecting from utilities outright. But since occupancy still runs through the same permit, CEO inspection, and septic/LPI approval process as any other dwelling, "off-grid" in Bradley means "off utility lines," not "off the permitting system."

Bottom line: talk to the CEO's office early. Dean Bennett wears both the CEO and LPI hats here, which is convenient, and the office keeps limited hours, so plan your call accordingly.