Off-Grid Living in Fulton County, Pennsylvania

Fulton County, Pennsylvania is one of the last places in the state without a countywide zoning ordinance, which makes it appealing to off-grid seekers, but it also means "it depends on your township" is the honest answer to almost every question you'll ask. I've dug through the county's official pages and Pennsylvania's Department of Labor & Industry and DEP sites to piece together how this actually works.

Zoning. The county government itself has no zoning ordinance. The Fulton County Planning Commission handles mapping and addressing and can point you to whichever municipal ordinance applies, but zoning authority sits with the county's boroughs and townships individually, Ayr, Belfast, Bethel, Brush Creek, Dublin, Licking Creek, Taylor, Thompson, Todd, Union, Wells, McConnellsburg Borough, and Valley-Hi Borough. Only McConnellsburg Borough was confirmed to have its own zoning ordinance. Some townships may have none at all, so you have to ask.

Building codes and permits. Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code (UCC) applies statewide, set by the Department of Labor & Industry, and requires a permit before most construction. Fulton County has no independent building department. Municipalities administer the UCC themselves, or contract it out to a third-party agency like PA Municipal Code Alliance, which is active in this part of the state. You need to find out which path your township takes before you build anything, including a tiny home.

Tiny homes and RVs. No Fulton County-specific rule exists here. Where a township enforces the UCC, expect the state's standard residential code baseline (based on the International Residential Code) to govern minimum room sizes and construction standards.

Septic and composting toilets. Pennsylvania has no county health department for Fulton County, so on-lot sewage permitting under the state's Act 537 Sewage Facilities Program, administered by DEP, falls to Sewage Enforcement Officers (SEOs) certified for each township or borough. You'll need to get your septic system (or evaluate a composting toilet's status) through your local SEO, not a county health office, because none exists here.

Greywater and rainwater. I found no Fulton County or municipal ordinance addressing either. Pennsylvania's default position, per DEP, treats greywater as sewage requiring a permitted system. Rainwater harvesting appears unregulated at the county level, but confirm locally since I can't rule out a township-specific rule.

Wells. No county-specific well ordinance was found. Pennsylvania's statewide well-driller registration framework applies by default; there's no local water authority overlay confirmed for Fulton County.

Off-grid utilities. Whether you can legally skip utility hookups depends entirely on your township's building and zoning code, since the county sets no such policy itself.

The bottom line: in Fulton County, the county government is mostly a referral point, not a regulator. Your township or borough office is where the real answers live.