Off-Grid Living in Clare County, Michigan

Clare County, Michigan is a patchwork when it comes to off-grid living, and the first thing I want you to understand is that the county itself doesn't do zoning. There's no countywide zoning ordinance here. Instead, each township and the City of Clare set their own land use rules. Arthur Township, for example, runs its own Zoning Ordinance, and the City of Clare has its own zoning code in its municipal ordinances. That means before you buy raw land anywhere in Clare County, you need to find out which township or city governs that specific parcel and call them directly. There's no shortcut around this parcel-by-parcel reality.

Where the county does step in is building permits. Since mid-2016, Clare County Community Development has handled building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits and inspections for the City of Clare and other participating jurisdictions, administering the State of Michigan Construction Codes. So even if your township handles zoning sign-off, you'll likely end up dealing with the county office for the actual construction permit.

I couldn't find any Clare County or township-specific language addressing tiny homes or RV living as a permanent dwelling. That's not confirmed one way or the other, so ask your township zoning administrator directly about occupancy duration and hookup requirements for RVs or alternative dwellings.

Septic and well permitting is handled regionally by the Central Michigan District Health Department (CMDHD), which serves Clare and five other counties. CMDHD requires a septic permit before you can get a building permit, and building without that permit is a sanitary code violation. The same health department also permits and inspects private wells under state and CMDHD sanitary code requirements. If you're planning a large-quantity irrigation well (75 gallons per minute or more), that also needs registration through EGLE's Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool.

I found no Clare County-specific rules on greywater reuse or rainwater harvesting, so those appear to fall back to the Michigan Plumbing Code baseline rather than any local addition. Confirm specifics with CMDHD or the county building office if you're doing anything nonstandard.

On full utility disconnection, there's no outright ban I could find, but in practice, getting a building permit through the county requires an approved well and septic setup, which functions as a real gatekeeper even if you're not on public power or water lines.

Bottom line: start with your township or city for zoning, then Clare County Community Development for construction permits, then CMDHD for well and septic. Skipping any of these steps is where people get into trouble.