Off-Grid Living in Hillsborough, New Hampshire

I've been digging into what off-grid living actually looks like in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, and here's my honest read after going through the town's own ordinance and building department pages.

Zoning comes first. Hillsborough is a zoned town, with a Planning Board (in place since 1958) and a Zoning Board of Adjustment administering an ordinance amended as recently as March 2025. Land falls into Rural, Residential, Commercial, and Central Business districts, each governed by a "Chart of Uses" that spells out what's allowed outright versus what needs a special exception from the Board of Adjustment. There's also a rural development provision that calls for a minimum contiguous acreage for certain kinds of development, so if you're eyeing a smaller rural parcel, check that against your specific plans with the Planning Board before you buy.

Dwellings, tiny homes, and RVs get specific treatment. The ordinance has a Recreational Camping Permit provision that lets you store an RV unoccupied on your own land in the Rural and Residential districts indefinitely, but that's about storage, not living in it full-time, so don't assume it covers year-round occupancy. Accessory Dwelling Units are recognized and permitted as secondary units subordinate to a main one-family home. A tiny house on a permanent foundation would go through the same building code review as any other dwelling.

Building permits are town-administered, through the Building Inspector's office, who also happens to serve as the town's Health Officer. That's a convenient overlap because septic, health, and building compliance often run through the same person. Site plans submitted with permit applications need to show setbacks, plus the location of driveway, septic, and well.

Septic is state law, not just town preference. New Hampshire DES requires an approved septic (ISDS) system for any structure with a water supply. Composting or incinerating toilets and privies are allowed, but only as a supplement, never a substitute, for a septic system where plumbing exists. If there's genuinely no water and no plumbing, a privy is allowed but needs local health officer sign-off on siting and construction.

Greywater reuse doesn't have a Hillsborough-specific rule that I could find, so I'd call that unclear and confirm with the Building Inspector's office directly. Rainwater harvesting looks fine, no town restriction turned up, and it falls under general state plumbing code for indoor use. Wells are licensed at the state level through the NH Water Well Board, though the town wants well location shown on your building permit site plan.

Bottom line on utility disconnection: there's no blanket ban on going off-grid here, but any occupied building still has to clear building and health code review, and any structure with plumbing needs an approved wastewater system. Nothing here is a workaround for that.