Off-Grid Living in Harrington, Maine

I'll be upfront: Harrington, Maine is a small Washington County town, and small towns often don't have everything spelled out in a slick online zoning code. Here's what I could actually confirm, and where you'll need to just call the town.

Zoning. Maine's Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act requires every municipality with shoreland (which includes tidal areas, rivers, and ponds) to adopt and enforce a shoreland ordinance, so Harrington definitely has shoreland zoning covering land near the water. Whether Harrington has a broader, townwide zoning ordinance governing raw land use away from the shoreland zone isn't something I could confirm from official sources. If your land isn't near water, don't assume there's no zoning at all, call the Harrington Town Office and ask directly.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found no Harrington-specific rule on minimum dwelling size, tiny homes, or living in an RV. This is a genuine gap in what's published, not a "yes you're fine" answer.

Building permits. Harrington does require a local building permit, confirmed through the Selectmen's own report describing an updated permit application on the town website. Whether Maine's statewide building code (MUBEC) is mandatory here likely depends on population, and Harrington's size probably puts it in the optional-adoption category, but I haven't independently confirmed that. Either way, the town's Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) is who administers permits, per the state law defining that role.

Septic and composting toilets. This one's on firmer ground: subsurface wastewater disposal, including composting or alternative toilets, is governed statewide by Maine's Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules, enforced locally by Harrington's CEO. No town-specific septic ordinance turned up, so the state rule is what applies.

Greywater. Same pattern, statewide plumbing rules require a licensed site evaluator and a permit for greywater disposal fields. No Harrington-specific twist found.

Rainwater harvesting. Nothing at the state or town level specifically addresses this. That generally means it's not restricted, but I'd still confirm with the Town Office before building a serious catchment system.

Wells. No Harrington-specific well ordinance found, so the state Water Well Commission's siting and construction rules are the default.

Full off-grid, utility-disconnected living. There's no explicit ordinance addressing this head-on. In practice, it comes down to whether you can satisfy the town's building permit, septic, and well requirements, since those are what the CEO actually enforces.

Bottom line: Harrington leans permissive on paper because so little is spelled out, but "not spelled out" isn't the same as "allowed." The Town Office and CEO are your two calls before buying land or building anything.