Off-Grid Living in Logan County, North Dakota

I've been digging into Logan County, North Dakota for anyone thinking about buying raw land out there and living independent of the grid, and here's what I found, plus what's still fuzzy.

Zoning. Logan County runs countywide zoning through the County Commission, most recently amended in April 2025, with agricultural, residential, and special-use districts (there's even specific language on wind and solar siting). That's administered out of the County Auditor's office, not a separate planning department. What I couldn't pin down from the ordinance excerpts is exactly how each district treats bare-land occupancy, minimum lot sizes, or setbacks, so if you've got a specific parcel in mind, call the Auditor and ask which district it's in.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I want to be straight with you here: I could not find an official Logan County document that spells out tiny-home or RV occupancy rules. There's a commercial site claiming the zoning code is quiet on tiny homes specifically, but that's not something I can treat as authoritative. Call the county before you assume anything.

Building permits. This one's clear: Logan County has required a building permit for construction or structural changes since its 2006 zoning regulations were adopted, and there are setback rules from roads and highways too. Permits come from the County Auditor / Code Administrator. That's actually more defined than North Dakota's state baseline, which mostly leaves permitting up to local governments.

Septic and composting toilets. North Dakota requires septic installers to be licensed by the state Department of Environmental Quality, and you also need a permit from your local public health unit. For Logan County that's Central Valley Health District, which covers several southeast-central counties and licenses installers and permits new septic systems, drain fields, seepage pits, and holding tanks. Composting toilets likely fall under this same umbrella, though I didn't find a rule written specifically for them, so ask CVHD directly.

Greywater. Not confirmed. Neither the county nor Central Valley Health District has a public page on residential greywater reuse that I could find. Ask CVHD's environmental health staff before you build a greywater system.

Rainwater harvesting. Nothing in the county ordinance excerpts restricts it, so it looks like Logan County simply follows the state's generally permissive stance. If you're putting in an underground storage tank, that might trigger the general building permit requirement, so check with the Auditor.

Wells. No county-specific well ordinance turned up. This appears to run on the state framework, handled by North Dakota's water resources agency for construction and appropriation. Confirm licensing and any local siting quirks with both the county auditor and the state agency.

Utilities. I found no requirement that you hook up to electric, water, or sewer to legally occupy a home here. That matches the state's general hands-off approach, but I'd want to read the full 2025 zoning ordinance cover to cover before ruling out a district-specific requirement.

Bottom line: Logan County is fairly workable for off-grid living on paper, building permits and septic permitting are the two firm requirements, but there are real gaps in what's publicly documented for tiny homes, greywater, and utility mandates. Call before you commit.