Off-Grid Living in Hermon, Maine

I've been digging through Hermon, Maine's town code and state resources to figure out what off-grid living actually looks like here, and the short version is: Hermon is a zoned town, not the kind of unzoned rural county you find out west, so you're working within a real regulatory framework from day one.

Zoning. Hermon has a codified Land Use and Development ordinance (Chapter 154), administered by a Code Enforcement Officer and Planning Board, with a Zoning Board of Appeals that hears variance requests. Lot area, lot coverage, and district standards all apply depending on where your parcel sits. If you're near a great pond, river, or certain streams, Maine's Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act kicks in an extra layer of rules (250 ft from great ponds/rivers, 75 ft from some streams), enforced locally but with the state DEP's Shoreland Zoning Unit backing up the town.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I couldn't find an explicit tiny-home or RV-as-permanent-dwelling provision in the ordinance excerpts I reviewed. The code does define "improved property" broadly as land with a structure meant for human habitation, which suggests these fall under general dwelling rules, but this is a call for the Code Enforcement Officer to make, not something I'd guess at.

Building permits. Hermon is on the state's list of towns required to enforce the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). Building permits are handled locally by the Code Enforcement Office, note that building permits don't cover plumbing, septic, or commercial electrical work, so those need separate sign-off. Permits are valid for one year once substantial work starts, and you need a Certificate of Occupancy from the CEO before moving in.

Septic and composting toilets. Septic is state-regulated through Maine's Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules, with the town's CEO also serving as local plumbing inspector. Holding tanks can be approved for limited-flow situations under state law. Composting toilets specifically weren't addressed in what I found, so confirm details with the CEO.

Greywater and rainwater. I found no Hermon-specific ordinance language on either. Greywater would fall under the state plumbing code framework, and rainwater harvesting doesn't appear to be separately addressed at all locally or in what I could find at the state level, treat this as an open question to raise with the Code Enforcement Office.

Wells. No town-specific well ordinance turned up; state Water Well Commission rules on siting, construction, and licensed drillers apply, with local building/plumbing permitting layered on top.

Utility disconnection. I didn't find an explicit ban on living off-grid without utility hookups, but living legally in a structure still runs through the same building permit, septic, and Certificate of Occupancy process, so disconnection itself isn't the issue, meeting occupancy requirements is.

Bottom line: Hermon isn't hostile to off-grid setups, but nothing here is a free-for-all. Call the Code Enforcement Office before you buy land or build.