Off-Grid Living in Sandoval County, New Mexico

I've spent a good chunk of time digging through Sandoval County, New Mexico's zoning ordinance and permit paperwork to figure out what off-grid living actually looks like here, and the short version is: this is a county with real, active zoning, not one of those wide-open rural NM counties where nobody's watching. If you're inside Bernalillo, Corrales, Cuba, Jemez Springs, Rio Rancho, or San Ysidro, none of this applies to you, those towns run their own codes. Everything below is for unincorporated Sandoval County.

Zoning. The Sandoval County Planning and Zoning Department administers a Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) that covers essentially the whole unincorporated county. Most rural land falls under the Rural Residential/Agricultural (RRA) district, which allows single-family homes, manufactured homes, and mobile homes outright. Anything else needs a conditional use permit, temporary use permit, or a zone change. Don't assume "rural" means "unregulated" here.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The CZO's definition of "dwelling unit" specifically excludes RVs. In the Rio Rancho Estates district, permanent foundations are required for long-term occupancy, and mobile/manufactured homes need a Manufactured Home Placement Permit from the county before they can be sited. I could not confirm whether a tiny house on wheels can legally serve as a full-time residence outside the mobile-home/RV framework, you'd want to ask Planning & Zoning directly.

Building permits. Actual building permits for unincorporated areas are issued by the state's Construction Industries Division (CID), but you have to get a Zoning Compliance and Floodplain Determination Checklist from Sandoval County P&Z first. If you're within three miles of Bernalillo, you permit through the town instead. Flood-zone properties also need a Flood Plain Development Permit from P&Z.

Septic. No county-specific septic ordinance exists here (that's unique to Bernalillo County among NM counties). Sandoval defers to the New Mexico Environment Department, and the county's own permit checklist requires a copy of your approved NMED Liquid Waste Permit. NMED's local office is the Rio Rancho (Sandoval) Office. Homeowner self-installation is possible statewide if you pass NMED's exam.

Greywater and rainwater. I found no county-specific rules on either. The CZO just defers generally to NMED and the State Engineer's Office, so the state's standard rules apply unmodified as far as I can tell.

Wells. The CZO explicitly folds in state well law, and caps shared domestic wells at three contiguous parcels in at least one district. Minimum lot size countywide is generally three-quarters of an acre, tied partly to protecting against overcrowding of onsite septic and well systems. Actual well permits come from the NM Office of the State Engineer.

Utilities. The county's Addressing Ordinance regulates installing utility service (it must follow a building permit and address assignment) but doesn't clearly mandate connection. Whether a fully utility-free home is affirmatively allowed county-wide isn't confirmed in what I reviewed, so this one is worth a direct call to P&Z.