Off-Grid Living in Plymouth, New Hampshire

I dug into Plymouth, New Hampshire's rules for anyone thinking about living off-grid there, and here's the honest picture, town by town, state by state.

Zoning first. Plymouth is not one of those wide-open unzoned New Hampshire towns. It has a full Zoning Ordinance with a map, multiple districts, and an active Planning and Development Department that staffs both the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment. The town has been amending its ordinance through 2025 and 2026, including new overlay districts. If you already have a lawful use of land that predates a zoning change, it's generally protected as a nonconforming use, but any new off-grid setup needs to fit the district you're in. I'd call the Planning & Development Department before buying land.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I could not find a specific Plymouth provision addressing tiny homes on wheels or RVs as permanent dwellings. The ordinance defines dwelling types but doesn't spell this out in what I found. Confirm directly with the town before assuming you can live in an RV or THOW full-time outside a campground.

Building permits. Plymouth runs its own permitting through the Building Inspector's office (housed at the Fire Department). Any new construction has to comply with both town and New Hampshire State codes, including the state Energy Code. This is a town-administered process layered on top of state rules.

Septic. Outside the Plymouth Village Water and Sewer District precinct, septic systems are approved by the state, specifically NH DES's Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, not the town itself. The town's own building permit just asks you to supply that state approval number. New Hampshire law generally requires any structure connected to water to also have a sewage disposal system, and septic designs must come from a permitted designer (with a narrow owner-installer exception for your own primary home). I found no separate town rule on composting toilets, so that's genuinely unclear at the town level, worth a direct question to the Building Inspector.

Greywater and rainwater. I found no Plymouth-specific ordinance on either. Rainwater harvesting appears to fall under the general "comply with state code" requirement on the building permit, with nothing extra from the town. Greywater reuse just isn't addressed in anything I found at town or state level here, so treat it as unconfirmed and ask before you build a system.

Wells. Plymouth Village has public water and sewer in its precinct, but well use is common outside it. Private wells are licensed at the state level through the Water Well Board, and the town's building permit process points back to DES approval.

Utilities. If you're inside the Plymouth Village Water and Sewer District precinct, new construction with plumbing needs district approval, which limits full off-grid disconnection there. Outside the precinct, private well and septic seem to be the norm, and I found no blanket town ban on going off-utilities.