Off-Grid Living in Ottawa County, Michigan

If you're looking at raw land in Ottawa County, Michigan, the first thing I want you to understand is that Ottawa County itself does not have a countywide zoning ordinance. Zoning and building permitting are handled by whichever of the county's roughly 20-plus townships and cities your parcel sits in (Wright Township, Olive Township, Port Sheldon Township, Holland Township, and so on), each operating under Michigan's state Zoning Enabling Act. The county does provide a GIS tool that shows zoning boundaries for all these jurisdictions, but for any real answer about a specific parcel, you have to call that township's planning and zoning office directly.

Where the county does step in uniformly is environmental health, meaning septic and well systems. That's run by the Ottawa County Department of Public Health's Environmental Health Division, and it applies the same way no matter which township you're in. Before you can get a septic permit, the county evaluates the site against its Environmental Health Code, and Ottawa County also runs a Time of Sale/Transfer Septic Ordinance requiring inspection of well and septic systems when a property changes hands. I did not find county material specifically addressing composting toilets as their own category; the county's construction standards document treats them under general "sewage disposal systems," and any alternative to a conventional septic setup (holding tanks included) needs health department and state EGLE sign-off.

Wells work the same way: the state's Well Construction Code lets Michigan delegate permitting to local health departments, and Ottawa County exercises that authority itself, including a Vacant Land Evaluation program to check upfront whether a parcel can support a well and septic system. The health department also does well water testing directly.

Dwellings and tiny homes/RVs are purely a township matter. Some townships, Wright Township is the one I found documented, allow a temporary dwelling permit (capped at a defined term with possible extensions) as long as water supply and toilet facilities meet state and county health code plus township plumbing code. I could not confirm whether any Ottawa County township has adopted the Appendix Q tiny-home provisions, so ask your township building department directly.

Building permits themselves follow the Michigan Residential/Building Code, enforced by each township or city building department rather than the county. Depending on location you may also need a driveway permit from the Ottawa County Road Commission or a soil erosion permit if you're within 500 feet of a lake or stream.

Greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting rules are not confirmed at the county level; I found no Ottawa County ordinance addressing either, so the state plumbing code baseline is likely what applies, but confirm with your township. Similarly, there's no explicit county ban on going off-grid from utilities, but between township dwelling-permit requirements and the county's well/septic permitting regime, fully disconnecting without an approved water and wastewater system would likely get stopped at the building-permit stage. That's my read of how the pieces fit together, not a confirmed written rule, so verify with your township building department before you commit to a plan.