Off-Grid Living in Adams County, North Dakota

I've been digging into Adams County, North Dakota for folks thinking about going off-grid there, and the first thing worth knowing is that this county is a bit different from a lot of rural North Dakota: it actually has countywide zoning, administered jointly with its cities through the Tax Equalization Department. So "no zoning out here" is not a safe assumption in Adams County the way it might be elsewhere in the state.

Zoning. The county's Zoning Ordinance (No. 1 and amendments) sets up agricultural, residential, and commercial districts, and it's administered with a Planning and Zoning Board. The ordinance specifically protects normal farming activity, and agricultural land tends to be the most permissive zone for off-grid style occupancy, but you're still working inside a countywide review, not a zoning-free county.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I could not find a specific minimum dwelling size or a tiny-home provision in the county documents I reviewed. I did see that RV parks and campgrounds are treated as their own permitted/conditional use category, separate from regular dwellings, which suggests living full-time in an RV on a bare residential lot may need a different approval path than building a house. Confirm this directly with the zoning office before you commit to a plan.

Building permits. Adams County doesn't run a separate building department; the Tax Equalization Department doubles as the zoning and building permit office, handling permits, conditional use permits, and variances for both county and cities.

Septic and composting toilets. Onsite wastewater systems are permitted, but licensing runs through the state (North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality licenses installers) and the actual permit comes from your local public health unit, in this case the Southwestern District Health Unit based in Dickinson. I did not find Adams County specific sewage ordinance text, so treat SWDHU as your first call.

Greywater. Unclear. I found no Adams County or SWDHU page addressing residential greywater reuse specifically, and North Dakota doesn't appear to have a clear statewide statute on it either. Ask SWDHU directly before setting up a greywater system.

Rainwater harvesting. Nothing in the county's zoning materials restricts it, and North Dakota has no state law against rainwater catchment, so this looks permitted, inherited from the state baseline rather than a county rule.

Wells. No Adams County specific well ordinance turned up. Well construction and water rights fall under state jurisdiction (water appropriation permits, licensed well drillers), with SWDHU as a possible regional contact for water quality questions.

Utility disconnection. I found no Adams County ordinance requiring a home to hook up to electric, water, or sewer utilities. North Dakota has no state mandate either, but that doesn't mean Adams County couldn't add its own requirement I simply didn't find in the documents, so double-check with Tax Equalization/Zoning.

Bottom line: Adams County isn't a wide-open no-rules county, it has real zoning and permit requirements, so call before you buy land or build.