Off-Grid Living in Groton, New Hampshire

Groton, New Hampshire is a small town that, unlike a lot of rural New England towns, actually has adopted zoning. Voters approved a Zoning Ordinance at Town Meeting back in 2019, and it's been amended since (a 2023 version exists through the regional planning commission). So this isn't unregulated land, even though it might feel that way given how rural Groton is. Most residential land sits in the RA (Residential/Agriculture) district, and the ordinance covers land use, floodplain rules, and home businesses (including short-term and long-term rentals, which are allowed by-right but treated as a home business).

For dwellings, I couldn't find any Groton-specific language calling out tiny houses on wheels or RVs as permanent residences. That's a gap in what's publicly posted, not necessarily a green light, so I'd call the Planning Board before assuming an RV or tiny home on wheels counts as a legal dwelling.

Building permits are handled at the town level. Groton publishes its own Building Permit Guidelines and references the state's PUC Residential Code Application, so you're working with a town permit process layered on a state-adopted code (New Hampshire's RSA 155-A framework), not a total free-for-all.

Septic is where the state, through NHDES's Subsurface Systems Bureau, takes the lead statewide, including in Groton. If you're converting a place from seasonal to full-time use, adding onto a structure, or increasing load on an existing system, NHDES approval is required before you do it, and an inspector signs off once it's built. Composting toilets aren't addressed in anything Groton-specific I found, so that's a "confirm with the town" situation.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting are both unconfirmed at the Groton level. New Hampshire doesn't have a robust statewide residential greywater rule, and Groton hasn't published anything of its own on it either, so you're largely in a gray area, ask before you build a greywater system. Rainwater harvesting for indoor non-potable use is generally fine under the state's baseline plumbing code, but nothing in Groton's own materials speaks to it directly.

Wells fall under the state's Water Well Board framework (RSA 482-B); I didn't find a Groton-specific well ordinance, though the town's building permit process does ask for septic and well locations on site plans.

Living off-grid, disconnected from utilities, doesn't appear to be explicitly banned anywhere in Groton's ordinance. The zoning document's focus is land use, floodplain administration, and home-business rules, not utility mandates, but "not addressed" isn't the same as "guaranteed fine," so verify with the Select Board if that's your plan.

Bottom line: Groton is zoned and does require building permits, with septic tightly controlled by the state. Several off-grid specifics (tiny homes, greywater, rainwater, utility disconnection) simply aren't spelled out in what's public, so a phone call before you commit money is the smart move.