Off-Grid Living in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire

I've been digging into what it actually takes to live off-grid in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, and the first thing to clear up is that Fitzwilliam is a zoned town. It's not one of those unzoned pockets of northern New Hampshire that off-grid folks sometimes chase. The town maintains a Zoning Ordinance, a Zoning District Map, and Tables of Dimensional Regulations, all administered through its Land Use Department, with a Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) handling variances and special exceptions under authority granted by state law (RSA 672-677) and the town's own ordinance sections. So before you buy land here assuming you can do whatever you want with it, plan on checking which zoning district it sits in and what's allowed there.

On dwellings, I couldn't pin down a specific Fitzwilliam ordinance dealing with tiny homes or RVs as permanent residences. What I did find is that the town's short-term rental rules specifically exclude "recreational vehicle, travel" units from that permitting scheme, which suggests the town treats RVs differently from conventional houses, but I don't have a clear answer on whether you can live in one long-term on your own land. That's a call-the-town question, not a guess-from-a-blog question.

Building permits are unambiguous: Fitzwilliam requires a construction permit for any new construction, addition, or renovation, interior or exterior. This falls under the town's Building Construction and Permits chapter, and the Building Department is your point of contact if you're not sure whether your project needs one.

Septic is handled at the state level by NH DES, which reviews and approves design plans before construction and requires both a construction approval and a separate operation approval before you can use the system. Fitzwilliam's own Health Department would likely be involved locally, but I didn't find town-specific composting toilet rules, so ask before assuming an alternative system is fine.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting are both open questions here. I couldn't find a Fitzwilliam ordinance addressing either one directly, which doesn't mean they're banned, just that the town hasn't spelled it out in the materials I reviewed.

Wells fall under the state's Water Well Board licensing system, and Fitzwilliam layers a Groundwater Protection Overlay District on top of that, though I didn't get the specific setback text. Same goes for utility disconnection: I found no ordinance mandating hookup to water or sewer, and private septic seems to be the norm for a rural town like this, but that's an inference, not a confirmed rule.

Bottom line: zoning and building permits are firmly regulated here, and several other pieces (RVs, greywater, rainwater, well overlay specifics) need a direct call to town hall before you commit to a plan.