Off-Grid Living in Croydon, New Hampshire

I've been digging into what it actually takes to live off-grid in Croydon, New Hampshire, and the honest answer is: this is a zoned town, so you can't just buy a back lot and do whatever you want, but a lot of the specifics I'd want to hand you aren't published in a way I could pin down in this pass of research.

Zoning. Croydon is not one of those unzoned New Hampshire towns. It has an adopted Zoning Ordinance, an active Zoning Board of Adjustment (meets by appointment), and a Planning Board that's been busy lately, including revising Article IX of the ordinance and holding a hearing on a Select Board proposal for a Growth Management Ordinance. That ordinance would cap how many building permits the town approves each year, with a sunset review built in around 2039 unless the Planning Board renews, amends, or repeals it sooner. If you're planning new construction, that cap matters a lot, so call the Town Office or Planning Board before you assume you can pull a permit whenever you like. Statewide, RSA 674:16 is what gives towns like Croydon the authority to zone in the first place, but I couldn't retrieve Croydon's actual district-by-district use tables, so the raw-land question (what's allowed as-of-right vs. by special exception) needs a direct call to Town Hall.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I found nothing town-specific on RVs, tiny houses, or accessory dwelling units for Croydon. That Article IX revision may touch on this, but I don't have the text, so treat this as unconfirmed and ask the Planning Board directly.

Septic and composting toilets. This one has a clearer state layer. Under RSA 147:8, privies that don't use water to move waste are allowed with sign-off from the local health officer on siting and construction, and they're specifically contemplated for places without electricity or running water, as long as waste is contained and won't reach groundwater. NHDES doesn't permit composting or incinerating toilets itself but says to check with your town's Local Health Officer before installing one. Any structure hooked to a water supply, though, has to send its wastewater to an approved ISDS or sewer, per NHDES. Croydon's own health officer would be the one to confirm how this is applied locally.

Greywater and rainwater. No dedicated state greywater rule turned up, and no Croydon ordinance on it either, so I'd call that unclear. Rainwater harvesting looks fine as a default, since I found no state or town rule against it, but nothing explicitly blesses outdoor collection systems either.

Wells. Nothing Croydon-specific; standard NH Water Well Board rules under RSA 482-B would be the baseline.

Utilities. I couldn't find a Croydon rule that requires or forbids living without water, sewer, or electric hookups. The pending growth ordinance is about permit volume, not utility mandates, as far as the text I have shows.

Bottom line: Croydon has real zoning teeth and a live conversation about limiting building permits, which is unusual for a small NH town and worth taking seriously if you're planning to build. But a lot of the granular off-grid questions, tiny homes, greywater, utility disconnection, aren't spelled out anywhere I could find, so plan on a phone call to the Town Office as a mandatory step, not an optional one.