Off-Grid Living in Charlestown, New Hampshire

I've been digging through Charlestown, New Hampshire's town documents and the state septic rules to figure out what off-grid living actually looks like here, and the short version is: this is a zoned town with real oversight, not a free-for-all rural corner of NH.

Zoning. Charlestown has a formal Zoning Ordinance with multiple districts (Town Center, Watershed, Zone G-2, Mixed Use E, and others), a Zoning Board of Adjustment, and a Planning Board that handles site plan and subdivision review. At least one district requires a five-acre minimum lot. Every lot needs frontage on, or deeded access from, a pre-existing town-maintained road, a requirement the town says flows from state law (RSA 674:41). Where you land in this patchwork matters a lot, so I'd confirm your parcel's district with the town before assuming anything.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The town regulates new structures and mobile homes (which must go on a cement pad), but I did not find anything in Charlestown's documents specifically addressing tiny houses on wheels or RVs as permanent dwellings. Treat this as unclear and ask the Planning & Zoning office directly.

Building permits. Charlestown issues its own permits, and it's a genuinely multi-department process: sign-off is needed from the Code Enforcement Officer, Highway Superintendent, Water & Sewer Superintendent, Planning & Zoning Administrator, and Fire Chief/Inspector. No permit or certificate of occupancy gets issued until your deed is properly recorded, and inspections cover things like footings, foundations, and concealed plumbing/electrical.

Septic and composting toilets. Charlestown's ordinance defers to the state here, requiring waste disposal to conform with state requirements. That means New Hampshire DES's Subsurface Systems Bureau runs the actual approval process, design, construction approval, and operational approval, before you can use a system. Composting toilets aren't addressed in anything I found at the town level, so that's a question for the town or DES directly.

Greywater and rainwater. I found no Charlestown-specific rules on either. That leaves the state's general (and generally unclear) baseline in place. Worth asking the town outright since absence of a rule isn't the same as a green light.

Wells. Well construction itself is a state-licensed activity, but Charlestown loops its Water & Sewer Superintendent into building permit review for new construction, so there's local coordination even for private wells.

Full utility disconnection. I didn't find an outright ban on going off-grid, but between minimum lot sizes, water-body setbacks and buffer requirements, and the multi-department permit review, there's real practical friction here. It's restrictive by process even without an explicit "you must hook up to utilities" rule.

Bottom line: Charlestown is workable for off-grid living but it's not a hands-off jurisdiction. Call ahead before you buy land or start building.