Off-Grid Living in Cheatham County, Tennessee

I've spent time digging through Cheatham County, Tennessee's official building and zoning pages, and here's what I found for anyone thinking about going off-grid there.

First, the big-picture fact: Cheatham County is NOT one of those unzoned rural Tennessee counties. It has a countywide Zoning Resolution and its own Department of Codes, Building Safety, and Land Use, which enforces zoning, the International Residential Code, and subdivision rules across the unincorporated county. If you're inside Ashland City, Pegram, Kingston Springs, or Pleasant View, the town adds its own permitting on top of that.

Zoning divides the county into Rural/Agricultural, Residential, Commercial, Industrial, and Floodplain districts, per the county's zoning resolution (Article 5). There's no minimum lot size to build a home, but whatever you build has to be allowed in that particular district, so I'd confirm your parcel's zoning before assuming you can live on raw land in a tent or van long-term.

Dwelling type matters a lot here. Mobile homes are restricted to the Agriculture district, while manufactured and modular homes can go in any residential district, according to the county's FAQ page. If you want to convert a pole barn or accessory structure into living space, the county requires a licensed architect or engineer to certify the whole structure meets the IRC. I did not find anything from the county addressing tiny houses on wheels or full-time RV living, so treat that as unconfirmed and ask Codes directly.

Building permits are required, full stop. Cheatham County has not opted out of the state residential code the way some counties have, so plans need engineer/architect or third-party inspection sign-off, and you need a Certificate of Occupancy before living in a new structure.

Septic is where a lot of off-grid plans hit a wall. There's no dry-cabin exemption here. The State of Tennessee (TDEC) issues the actual septic permit, but the county won't issue your building permit until you hand over proof of that septic permit. Composting toilets don't have a documented county exemption, so the standard state approach applies.

Greywater and rainwater rules are largely silent at the county level; nothing county-specific was found, so these fall back to Tennessee's general (and somewhat loosely enforced) state framework.

Wells are licensed and regulated by the state (TDEC), not the county. Most of rural Cheatham County runs on private wells since there's no countywide public water system, though several utility districts cover parts of the county.

Utilities: I found no ordinance forcing hookup to municipal water or sewer, so private well and septic is the normal, permitted path outside town service areas, provided the septic and building permits are in order.

Bottom line: Cheatham County is more regulated than a lot of people expect from rural Tennessee. Zoning and code enforcement are real here.