Off-Grid Living in Belmont, New Hampshire

Belmont, New Hampshire is a zoned town, so if you're picturing raw land where you can just park a camper and start living, that's not really the setup here. I've been digging into the town's official documents, and here's what I found.

Zoning. Belmont has had a Zoning Ordinance since 1986, administered by the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment, with the Land Use Department handling applications. The ordinance sets dimensional rules (including setbacks) by district, and there's a wetlands conservation overlay that applies townwide. What you can do with a piece of land depends heavily on which district it sits in (Residential, Commercial, Rural, Village, etc.), so pulling the zoning map for your specific parcel is a real first step, not an afterthought.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Belmont's building permit application separates out single-family, two-family, multi-family, accessory buildings, and ADUs, which tells me tiny or foundation homes get treated as standard dwellings or ADUs. I did not find any town ordinance that allows an RV or wheeled tiny home as a permanent residence outside of a campground, so I'd treat that as off the table unless the Land Use Department tells you otherwise.

Building permits. The Building Department requires permits with a mandatory sequence of inspections, and completed applications are typically processed fairly quickly, though I won't put a firm number on it here, since the town's own materials should be your source for current processing expectations.

Septic and composting toilets. A town permit is required before any septic installation, per the Belmont Sewer Ordinance. That same ordinance requires improved properties within a set distance of an operable public sewer to connect to it, so full off-grid disconnection from sewer isn't an option in serviced parts of town. Statewide, New Hampshire DHHS guidance (RSA 147:11) allows privies but requires they be built so waste won't reach groundwater, and a local health officer can order one shut down near a public sewer. I did not find a Belmont-specific composting toilet ordinance, unlike neighboring Grafton, so confirm directly with the town or state DES if this matters to your plan.

Greywater. No Belmont ordinance or state DES rule specifically addressing residential greywater reuse turned up in my research. This one's genuinely unclear, ask the Land Use Department directly.

Rainwater harvesting. No Belmont restriction found; the state's plumbing/residential code baseline applies, and rainwater collection appears permitted.

Wells. Private wells are state-licensed and fall under NH DES rules. Belmont runs its own municipal Water Department for in-district service, but outside that service area, private wells are the norm, subject to state Best Management Practices for site work.

Utility disconnection. Outside the sewer-service radius, I didn't find an added forced-hookup rule, but within it, the sewer connection requirement above applies.

Bottom line: Belmont isn't hostile to off-grid living, but it is a regulated town, and district-by-district and case-by-case confirmation with Land Use is the honest path forward.