Off-Grid Living in Hancock, Vermont

I'll say this up front: Hancock, Vermont is one of the more wide-open towns I've come across in my research, at least on paper. Hancock has no general zoning bylaw at all. The one exception is a flood hazard bylaw the town adopted back in 2009, which applies only in mapped flood zones. That's a real rarity in Vermont, and it changes the calculus for anyone thinking about living off-grid there, but it doesn't mean "anything goes." State law still applies everywhere, zoned or not.

Zoning and raw land. Because there's no town-wide zoning, Hancock doesn't have use districts, minimum lot rules, or a general zoning permit requirement for ordinary land occupancy, according to the town's own planning documents. If your land is in a mapped flood hazard area, though, the flood bylaw kicks in and you'll need to deal with that separately.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. With no zoning, I found nothing restricting dwelling size, tiny homes, or RV living from the town's land-use side. That said, I couldn't confirm whether Hancock has any separate health or building regulation that touches RV or tiny-home occupancy. Call the Town Clerk's office to be sure before you settle in.

Building permits and codes. I didn't find evidence of a Hancock-specific building permit ordinance or locally adopted building code. Vermont's statewide residential energy standards still apply no matter what the town does locally, but for structural code questions, confirm directly with the Town Clerk or Selectboard, since I couldn't nail this down from official sources.

Septic, greywater, wells. This is where the state, not the town, runs the show. Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation has held universal jurisdiction over wastewater and water supply permitting since 2007, covering new construction, subdivision, and system repairs. That covers septic, greywater, and private wells alike, and it applies in Hancock exactly as it would anywhere else in the state, administered through DEC's regional office structure. I found no Hancock-specific layer on top of these state rules.

Rainwater harvesting. Nothing town-specific here either, non-potable rainwater catchment looks permitted under general state guidance, while potable use would trigger the state's water supply permitting process.

Off-grid utilities. Since there's no zoning ordinance requiring hookup to utilities or occupancy permits, living disconnected from the grid looks feasible from a town-rules standpoint. Your septic and well setup will still need to clear state DEC permitting regardless.

Bottom line: Hancock's lack of zoning gives you a lot of room, but Vermont's state-level environmental permitting is not optional anywhere, including here. Confirm anything build-code related directly with the Town Clerk since that piece isn't clearly documented.