Off-Grid Living in Grant County, Oregon

I've been digging into Grant County, Oregon for folks thinking about going off-grid out around Canyon City and John Day, and here's where things stand based on official sources.

Grant County isn't one of those "no zoning" rural counties you sometimes hear about out West. The Grant County Planning Department runs a countywide Land Development Code, and that same office also handles building permits, not just for unincorporated land but for the City of John Day too, since John Day doesn't run its own building department. So one office is your main point of contact for a lot of this.

On zoning, the county has a formal Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code with articles on setbacks, resource zones, and combining zones. I could not confirm the exact minimum parcel sizes for each zone from what I reviewed, so that's a call to Planning before you buy land.

For dwellings, tiny homes, and RVs, I did not find a Grant County - specific ordinance spelling out rules for RVs or tiny houses as permanent residences. Oregon has a statewide RV-rental-dwelling law (SB 1013) some counties opted into, but whether Grant County did is not confirmed, so ask Planning directly.

Building permits are required and go through the county Planning Department office in the Canyon City courthouse, with the state Building Codes Division handling plan review and inspection coordination. Inspections reportedly happen on a set weekly schedule, so plan around that.

Septic is regulated under Oregon DEQ's statewide onsite wastewater rules. Some counties act as DEQ's local permitting agent; I couldn't confirm whether Grant County has that arrangement or if DEQ handles it directly, but the county Planning office says it can help with onsite septic questions, so start there. Composting toilets aren't separately addressed in county materials I found, so assume standard DEQ onsite rules apply until you hear otherwise.

Greywater reuse and rainwater harvesting don't appear to have county-specific rules. Both inherit Oregon's statewide framework, DEQ's tiered greywater program and the state's rooftop rainwater exemption, though any plumbed use may still fall under the building code once the county gets involved.

Wells and water rights follow Oregon's prior-appropriation, first-in-time doctrine, administered by the state Water Resources Department. The county's own water rights page walks through this framework, but doesn't add local well restrictions beyond the state's construction standards.

Bottom line on living unplugged from utilities: there's no found ordinance banning it outright, but you can't just skip water and wastewater. The building permit process requires documentation of an approved method for both before a dwelling permit gets issued.

Given the number of "not confirmed" items here, I'd treat this as a solid starting map, not the final word. Call Planning before committing to a piece of land.