Off-Grid Living in Onondaga County, New York

Onondaga County is a good example of "it depends on which side of the road you're on." There is no countywide zoning code here. Since 1922, every town and village in the county except the Town of Otisco has written its own zoning law, and those 34 separate municipal codes govern most of the land in the county. The County Department of Planning coordinates review (state-mandated GML §239 referrals) but doesn't set the rules itself. So the honest first answer to "can I do this off-grid?" is: call your specific town or village, because the Town of Onondaga's rules are not the Town of Manlius's rules, and so on.

That said, a few things ARE centralized. Septic and wastewater permitting is handled countywide by the Onondaga County Health Department (OCHD), Bureau of Public Health Engineering. Any onsite wastewater system, and any subdivision map regardless of size, needs OCHD sign-off. OCHD leans on the New York State Residential Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Design Handbook where it doesn't have its own standard, which is also where greywater systems get folded in since the county hasn't published separate greywater rules.

Building permits and code enforcement are strictly local. Each town or village runs its own Building and Codes office enforcing the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code. I used the Town of Onondaga as an example (its Chapter 285 zoning sets minimum lot sizes, 20,000 square feet on public water, one acre otherwise), but that's illustrative, not a countywide number. Your town's building department is the one that actually issues your permit.

Wells fall under the state DOH/DEC framework; the county doesn't run its own well-permitting office. The Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) is the regional public water supplier, worth knowing if you're near a public water line, but it doesn't permit private wells. Rainwater harvesting doesn't appear to be restricted at the county level at all, though I'd still check your town's code since I can't rule out a local wrinkle.

Bottom line for anyone hunting off-grid land in this county: the county gives you septic and subdivision rules, the state gives you the building code and well standards, and the town or village gives you the make-or-break answer on whether raw-land occupancy, tiny homes, RVs, or full utility disconnection are even allowed. Don't skip that last call.