Off-Grid Living in Grand County, Utah

I've been digging into Grand County, Utah for anyone eyeing off-grid land near Moab or out in Castle Valley, and the short version is: this is a "check your zone and check your town" kind of place, not a blanket yes-or-no county.

Zoning. Grand County runs countywide zoning through its Land Use Code (LUC), administered by the County Planning & Zoning Department. Notably, the county created an Alternative Dwelling Overlay (ADO) District specifically meant to allow RVs, cabins, tiny homes, and modular housing as long-term or seasonal-worker housing, though short-term rentals aren't allowed within an approved ADO. Outside of an ADO overlay, whether you can live in a tent, yurt, or RV on raw land depends entirely on the underlying zone district's use table. There's no single county-wide answer here, you have to look up your parcel's zone.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Within an ADO development, lot and unit sizes are spelled out (minimum lot size, dwelling site size ranges, unit caps per acre) by the county LUC. Standalone RV parks/campgrounds have their own separate standards. Whether you can just park one RV as your only home on an ordinary residential lot outside these frameworks isn't confirmed in what I found, so that's a call to Planning & Zoning.

Building permits. Utah requires counties to adopt the state construction code (currently based on the 2021 IRC, per Utah Administrative Rule R156-15A), and Grand County has done so. A building permit is required for essentially any construction, alteration, or demolition, and any contractor working here must hold an active Utah state contractor's license, even for permit-exempt work. Castle Valley is a separate incorporated town: its own Building Permit Agent or Planning and Land Use Commission handles zoning approval there, but the Grand County Building Inspector still does code enforcement and inspections, and Southeast Utah Health Department (SEUHD) still handles septic.

Septic and greywater. SEUHD administers Utah's onsite wastewater rule (R317-4) for septic permits county-wide, including a separate companion permit process in Castle Valley. SEUHD also runs the state's greywater rule (R317-401) and has been a notably active proponent of the simplified Tier 1 gravley-fed greywater option, though a permit and a certified Onsite Wastewater Professional are still required. Composting toilets aren't addressed in anything I found, so it's not confirmed whether they satisfy occupancy requirements in place of a permitted septic system.

Rainwater. No Grand County-specific rule turned up, so the state baseline under Utah Code applies: unregistered collection up to a certain small volume, and free registration through the Division of Water Rights for larger tanks.

Wells and water rights. Private wells go through the state Division of Water Rights (Start Card, water right). In Spanish Valley and much of the populated county, the Grand Water & Sewer Service Agency (GWSSA) runs culinary water from its own wells, so if you're inside its service boundary you may end up coordinating with them rather than drilling your own well.

Off-grid utilities generally. I couldn't find one ordinance that squarely addresses living totally off-grid (no power line, no public water/sewer). Building permit applications do route through water/sewer verification via GWSSA where applicable. Whether a fully off-grid property (solar/battery, private well, permitted septic) can get a Certificate of Occupancy isn't confirmed, so confirm directly with the Building Department and SEUHD before you buy land or build.