Off-Grid Living in Gorham, New Hampshire

I've been digging through Gorham, New Hampshire's town documents and the state DES site to figure out what off-grid living actually looks like there, and here's my honest read.

Zoning is real here. Gorham is not one of those unzoned New Hampshire towns you sometimes hear about. The town runs an active Zoning Ordinance (last updated in 2024), and it has both a Planning Board (handling land-use planning, site plan review, and subdivisions) and a separate Zoning Board of Adjustment that hears variance and special exception requests. If your plan doesn't fit neatly into a zoning district's dimensional rules, the ZBA is your path forward, so I'd start any off-grid land purchase by confirming the parcel's zoning district with the Planning Board.

Building permits are required, full stop, for construction, renovation, or other regulated work. The Building & Code Enforcement office at 20 Park Street handles this, and new construction has to meet the NH Energy Code, which means submitting an EC-1 form for approval before the Code Enforcement Officer will issue your permit. I did not find a Gorham-specific ordinance spelling out tiny-home or RV occupancy rules, though the town does reference a "Temporary Camping & Parking" policy, which tells me RV living is treated separately from permanent dwelling. I'd call the Building office directly before parking or building anything unconventional.

Septic is a state matter first. New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services (DES) Subsurface Systems Bureau regulates septic systems statewide, issuing both a Construction Approval and, later, an Operation Approval. Gorham's own building permit application asks you to supply DES water-supply and sewage-disposal information whenever a lot isn't on Town Sewer, so the town and state processes work together here. I did not find anything in Gorham's records addressing composting toilets specifically, so I'd treat that as a state DES/local health question to ask directly.

Wells are state-licensed through the usual NH Water Well Board framework, and Gorham's building permit form asks applicants to disclose well location and radius on the lot, so the town is coordinating with, not replacing, state oversight.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting are genuinely unclear at the town level. I didn't find a Gorham ordinance addressing either one, which likely means you're operating under the general state plumbing and building code baseline, but I can't point you to a specific rule confirming that either way.

Living fully off-grid, disconnected from municipal utilities: I found no explicit Gorham rule requiring hookup to utilities for occupancy. The building permit process does require you to disclose your water and sewage plan, which functionally means DES has to sign off if you're not on Town Sewer, but that's different from a blanket ban on going off-grid.

Bottom line: Gorham is a zoned town with active permitting, and the big off-grid questions (septic, wells) are handled through NH DES with town-level coordination. The gray areas, tiny homes, RVs, greywater, are worth a direct phone call before you commit.