Off-Grid Living in Johnston, Rhode Island

I'll be upfront: Johnston, Rhode Island is not an off-grid friendly town. It's a fully zoned Providence County suburb, and its zoning code, adopted under the state's Rhode Island Zoning Enabling Act of 1991 (R.I.G.L. § 45-24-27 et seq.), covers essentially the whole town, including a large Residence R-40 district. If you're picturing rural homesteading with a lot of flexibility, Johnston isn't that place, at least not without a fight at the Zoning Board of Review.

Zoning and land use run through the Town's Zoning Ordinance, administered by the Zoning Division under the Department of Development & Public Service. The ordinance is explicit that no land use or structure is allowed unless it conforms to the chapter, and the town's districts are dominated by residential zoning rather than open agricultural land.

Dwellings, tiny homes, and RVs: the Johnston Zoning Ordinance (Article V) directly bars mobile homes or trailers from use as dwellings except inside licensed trailer parks. That almost certainly rules out a permanent tiny home or RV as a primary residence anywhere else in town, unless you can get a variance, which is not something I'd count on.

Building permits go through the Building Division, which is part of the same Development & Public Service department. Johnston follows the statewide Rhode Island building code, and I found no rural or off-grid exemption in the materials I reviewed, so plan on a standard permitting and inspection process for any structure.

Septic systems fall under state rules. Johnston's own sewer ordinance references the state's OWTS (Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, formerly called ISDS) standards published by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) for any parcel not on public sewer. I did not find anything from the town or RIDEM confirming composting toilets as an approved standalone treatment method, so that's a real open question to ask RIDEM about directly.

Greywater and rainwater harvesting: I found no Johnston-specific ordinance on either topic. That means the state's baseline rules would likely apply by default, but since I don't have a Johnston town-level source confirming or restricting either practice, I'm calling both "not confirmed" rather than guessing.

Private wells: same story, no town-specific rule turned up in my research. Wells would fall under Rhode Island Department of Health's statewide well and water-testing program, but I don't have a Johnston-specific ordinance to point to.

Disconnecting from utilities entirely: this is where Johnston's code really bites. The town requires an up-to-date certificate of conformance for septic systems before it will issue a certificate of occupancy, and it bars mobile homes/trailers outside licensed parks. Put together, that effectively means any permanent residence needs to meet conventional building, septic, and occupancy requirements. This isn't a place to quietly disappear off-grid.

Bottom line: if you're serious about an off-grid setup in Johnston, your first call should be the Zoning Division, and your second should be RIDEM for anything septic-related. Confirm everything before you buy land here.