Off-Grid Living in Storey County, Nevada

Storey County, Nevada, sits in that tricky middle ground of off-grid research: it's rural and often assumed to be a "no zoning" county like some of its Nevada neighbors, but it isn't. Storey County has adopted countywide zoning under Title 17 of the Storey County Code, administered by the Storey County Planning Department, and that changes the whole picture for anyone hoping to just buy land and set up camp.

The biggest single fact I want you to walk away with: camping is not an allowed land use on any parcel in the county, per the Planning Department. That rules out the classic "live in an RV or tent while you build" plan unless you take the county's specific carve-out. That carve-out is a temporary trailer permit, issued at the building official's discretion, for one travel trailer or motor home connected to a permanent water source and sewer or septic system, and only while an active construction permit for your actual house is in progress. So RV living is tolerated as a construction-phase bridge, not as a lifestyle.

Tiny homes as their own category aren't recognized either. In the E-40-VR estates zone, Storey County Code sets a minimum floor area (401 square feet) for a dwelling, which effectively excludes very small structures from qualifying as a legal residence.

Building permits are required and run through Storey County's Community Development / Building Department. A shed under a certain size (200 square feet, no electrical/plumbing/mechanical) can skip a permit, but only if the parcel already has an established primary use like a single-family home.

Septic gets layered oversight: the county's building submittal checklist requires a State Health Construction Permit for septic, and the technical design work (percolation testing, leach trench sizing) is handled regionally by Carson City Health and Human Services Environmental Health, since Storey County doesn't appear to run its own septic office. Composting toilets aren't addressed in anything I found at the county level, so that's a direct question for the Building Department.

Wells are governed by state law, not the county. Nevada's Division of Water Resources (NDWR) exempts domestic wells from full water-right permitting, capped by statute at two acre-feet per year with a daily draw limit, but you still need a State Engineer-licensed driller and coordination through the county Building Department.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting rules are genuinely thin in the record I have. Nevada allows rooftop rainwater collection for single-family use statewide, and I found no Storey County restriction layered on top, but I couldn't confirm whether the county has its own greywater ordinance at all, so treat both as "ask before you build" items.

Bottom line on utility disconnection: going off-grid for power looks fine in principle, but the county's water-source and septic/sewer requirements for occupancy, combined with the camping ban, mean you can't skip water and sanitation infrastructure entirely.