Off-Grid Living in Kennebunkport, Maine

I've been digging into what it would actually take to live off-grid in Kennebunkport, Maine, and the short answer is: this is a zoned coastal town with fairly tight local land-use controls layered on top of Maine's state building and wastewater rules. It's not a place where you can just park a camper on raw land and call it home.

Zoning. Kennebunkport is fully zoned under its own Land Use Ordinance (Chapter 240), administered by the Town, not left to state default rules. The town is carved into a long list of zones (Village Residential, Cape Arundel, Goose Rocks, Farm and Forest, Shoreland Overlay, and more), and if a use isn't listed as permitted or conditional in a given zone, it's prohibited. On top of that, Kennebunkport runs a growth management permit system that caps how many new dwelling permits get issued each year, split across Growth, Transitional, and Rural areas. That cap is a real practical hurdle for anyone hoping to build new, separate from the usual zoning questions.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Living in an RV short-term needs a Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) permit. Staying longer than about four months pushes you into needing a well and leach field plus registration and a CEO permit, or the RV effectively gets treated as a permanent structure subject to full building code. Maine has a state law (LD 1530) requiring towns to allow tiny homes on lots zoned for single-family use, but I could not confirm how Kennebunkport has folded that into its own ordinance text, so check with the Planning and Development office directly.

Building permits and codes. The town has adopted the Maine Uniform Building Code (MUBEC) and requires permits for construction, enforced by the CEO. Inspections cover footing, foundation, backfill, framing, insulation, septic, plumbing, chimney, and final. Permits go through the town's online GovWell system, and no permit is final until all other federal, state, and local approvals are in hand.

Septic and composting toilets. Wastewater is handled under Maine's State Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules, enforced locally by a Local Plumbing Inspector (LPI), a role the CEO likely also fills here, though I couldn't independently confirm that dual role specifically for Kennebunkport. Greywater isn't treated as a separate discharge category; it flows through the same permitted subsurface system.

Rainwater and wells. I found no Kennebunkport-specific rules on rainwater harvesting, and private wells appear to fall back on Maine's general well-construction standards rather than any distinct town ordinance, but neither point is confirmed on the town's own site.

Utilities. There's no ordinance that says "you must connect to the grid," but between mandatory building permits, MUBEC compliance, and required septic permitting, a fully unpermitted off-grid setup would put you out of compliance with the town's occupancy rules.

Bottom line: Kennebunkport allows for a self-sufficient homestead, but every piece (dwelling, septic, building) needs a permit, and the annual growth cap adds a wrinkle that a lot of off-grid-friendly rural towns simply don't have.