Off-Grid Living in McIntosh County, North Dakota

I've been digging into McIntosh County, North Dakota for anyone thinking about setting up off-grid out here, and I'll be straight with you: this is one of those places where the paper trail is thinner than I'd like, partly because the county's zoning framework itself looks fairly new.

Zoning. McIntosh County has a Planning and Zoning Commission, and the county's own website references a "Preliminary Zoning Ordinance" along with a full draft zoning ordinance PDF. That tells me countywide zoning is either recently adopted or still being finalized in places. Most of the county is unorganized territory (only Roloff Township is organized), so land outside Ashley and Wishek is probably governed by this county ordinance rather than a town code. Agricultural districts in rural counties like this tend to be permissive toward off-grid setups, but I couldn't verify exact district maps or use tables, so confirm with the Planning and Zoning Commission before you buy or build.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found no county page spelling out minimum dwelling sizes or RV/tiny-home occupancy rules. North Dakota has no statewide minimum home size, leaving it to local governments, so this is likely addressed somewhere in that draft zoning ordinance, but I couldn't pin it down. Ask the zoning office directly.

Building permits and codes. No county-specific building permit office or fee schedule turned up in my research. Statewide, electrical and plumbing work still has to meet state board standards (State Electrical Board, State Plumbing Board) no matter what the county does locally.

Septic and composting toilets. This one's clearer. McIntosh County has its own health unit, the McIntosh District Health Unit, and statewide, septic installers must be licensed under North Dakota Century Code 23.1-07.1, with both a state license and a local health permit required before work starts. I'd expect the McIntosh District Health Unit to issue that local permit, similar to how other district health units operate.

Greywater. Genuinely unclear, both at the state and county level. No official guidance found either way.

Rainwater harvesting. No county restriction found, so the permissive state baseline applies.

Wells and water rights. McIntosh County has its own Water Board / Water Resource District, though its page didn't detail well permitting specifically. Statewide, domestic and stock wells are generally exempt from full water appropriation permits, but the well must be built by a licensed driller, and the driller's report has to be filed with the State Board of Water Well Contractors.

Utility disconnection. No countywide mandatory hookup rule found. State law doesn't require grid connection, and I found nothing from Ashley or Wishek municipal code suggesting otherwise, though I only checked county-level sources.

Bottom line: McIntosh County is workable for off-grid living, but because zoning is newly formalized and several dimensions aren't spelled out online, a phone call to the county before committing money to land is worth the effort.