Off-Grid Living in Cortland County, New York

I've been digging into Cortland County, New York for anyone thinking about buying raw land and going off-grid, and the first thing I need to say plainly is: Cortland County has no countywide zoning code. That's unusual and it matters a lot. Zoning and building permits here are handled town by town (or by the City of Cortland), while the County government's direct hand only reaches into two things everywhere: septic systems and private wells, both run by the Cortland County Health Department's Environmental Health Division.

So when it comes to zoning and whether you can just live on raw land, park an RV, or put up a tiny house, the honest answer is "it depends which town." The Town of Cortlandville, for example, requires building permits before any new structure goes up (with a small exemption for accessory buildings 100 square feet or less) and ties everything to the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. The City of Cortland runs its own zoning chapter through its Code Enforcement Division. Other towns like Homer, Dryden, Virgil, Marathon, and Cincinnatus each have their own rules, and I did not find confirmation of what any of them specifically say about RVs or THOWs as permanent dwellings. You genuinely have to call the town.

Septic is where the county actually takes charge. The Health Department's Environmental Health Division inspects sites, runs perc tests, and issues both construction permits and completion certificates. New systems and full replacements need an engineer's design; a straight tank swap doesn't require an engineer, just county assessment and approval. Composting toilets aren't addressed on the county page I found, so I'd assume state DOH rules apply until a local office tells you otherwise.

Wells work the same way, county-administered, with the Environmental Health Division issuing construction permits and doing water quality testing. They process roughly 125 well permits a year, so this is a well-worn process for them, call and ask for the application form.

Greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting are both blank spots. No Cortland County or town page I found addresses either directly, which means you're left with New York State's baseline rules (and greywater specifically is notoriously hard to do "by the book" under state code). Rainwater collection doesn't appear restricted, just not spelled out locally.

As for cutting the utility cord entirely, there's no countywide law forcing a grid connection. But because each town runs its own zoning and code enforcement, a specific town could impose its own requirements. Cortlandville and the City of Cortland are your best documented examples; everywhere else, you need to ask the local code office directly.

Bottom line: think of Cortland County as two different systems layered together, a strict, well-documented county process for septic and wells, and a patchwork of independent town rules for everything else. Don't assume what's true in Cortlandville applies in Virgil or Marathon.