Off-Grid Living in Richmond, Maine

I've been digging into what off-grid living actually looks like in Richmond, Maine, and here's my honest read after going through the town's own documents and the state health department's pages.

First, the big one: Richmond is a zoned town. This isn't unzoned rural land where you can just set up however you like. The Town of Richmond adopted a Land Use Ordinance and an Official Zoning Map (dated back to 1974, amended since) that divides the town into districts, on file with the Municipal Clerk. What I couldn't pin down in the ordinance text I reviewed is exactly what each district allows for raw-land occupancy, like whether you can camp or park a tiny structure on vacant land while building. That's a question for Richmond's Code Enforcement Officer.

On dwellings, tiny homes, and RVs, I have to be upfront: I didn't find specific provisions in what's publicly posted. Richmond does reference the 2015 International Residential Code and International Building Code as its adopted building codes, and building permits are clearly required through the Code Enforcement office. But whether a tiny home on wheels or an RV counts as a legal permanent dwelling here is something only the Code Enforcement Officer can answer directly, since it depends on how the local ordinance interacts with the adopted building code.

Septic and greywater are more solid ground. Maine handles subsurface wastewater at the state level (Maine CDC / DHHS, rule 10-144 CMR 241), but it's administered locally: Richmond's Code Enforcement Officer also serves as the town's Local Plumbing Inspector. A licensed site evaluator or engineer generally has to prepare septic system applications, with some exceptions for tank replacements and certain alternative toilets. Any time you're putting wastewater into the ground where there wasn't a system before, a soil evaluation is required, statewide, not just in Richmond.

Rainwater harvesting and utility disconnection are areas where I simply couldn't find a Richmond-specific rule, one way or the other. That's not the same as it being banned, it just means it isn't addressed in what I found, and it likely gets swept into the general building/zoning permit process.

Wells appear to be governed by Maine's statewide Water Well Commission rules, and I didn't find any Richmond-specific well ordinance layered on top.

My bottom line: Richmond is far from a legal free-for-all. Zoning, building permits, and septic permitting are all active requirements, administered by one busy Code Enforcement office that wears several hats. For anything not spelled out here, especially tiny homes, RVs, and rainwater systems, calling that office before you buy land or build is the smart move.