Off-Grid Living in Lancaster, New Hampshire

I've been digging into what it actually takes to live off-grid in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and I want to be upfront: this is a zoned town, so "off-grid" here doesn't mean "unregulated." Here's what I found, and where the gaps still are.

Zoning. Lancaster adopted its own Zoning Ordinance, keeps a Zoning Map (plus a separate Central Business District map), and runs it through a Zoning Board of Adjustment with a Land Use Coordinator handling day-to-day administration. That means raw land in Lancaster falls under district-specific rules, not a free-for-all. I did not find search-level detail on how each district treats off-grid occupancy specifically, so if you're eyeing a parcel, pull the full ordinance text from the town's Land Use page or call the Land Use Coordinator directly.

Tiny homes and RVs. I couldn't confirm a Lancaster-specific rule on tiny house or RV occupancy in the material I reviewed. This is exactly the kind of thing that can be buried deep in a zoning ordinance's definitions section or handled case by case through the Zoning Board of Adjustment, so don't assume either way, ask.

Building permits. The town runs its own Building Code Ordinance and issues residential permits through the Land Use office (with a note that commercial permits are handled at town hall). If you're building any kind of structure, plan on pulling a local permit.

Septic. This one has a clear state layer: New Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services requires an Approval for Construction and a separate Approval for Operation before any septic system goes into use, statewide. Lancaster's Building Code Ordinance and Land Use office coordinate with NHDES on the local side. I didn't find anything Lancaster-specific on composting toilets, which is a common gray area in small NH towns.

Greywater, rainwater, wells. For all three, I could not find a Lancaster-specific ordinance. That means the state baseline likely applies by default, in particular the NH Water Well Board's statewide licensing for well construction, but I'm flagging these as unconfirmed rather than guessing at local rules that may or may not exist.

Utility disconnection. No Lancaster-specific health ordinance or subdivision rule requiring a hookup to municipal utilities turned up in what I reviewed. The Planning Board's subdivision regulations are the likely place such a requirement would live if it exists, and I'd want to see that full document before saying either way.

Bottom line: Lancaster is a real, zoned New Hampshire town, and the town's Land Use office is going to be your first and best call for anything specific to a parcel there. The state fills in some big pieces, especially septic and well construction, but plenty of the day-to-day off-grid questions (RVs, greywater, disconnection from utilities) just aren't settled by anything I could find in public search snippets. Treat those as open questions to ask about directly, not assumptions to build on.