Off-Grid Living in Salisbury, Vermont

Salisbury, Vermont is a small rural town in Addison County, and it's a genuinely zoned town, not one of the "unzoned" pockets of Vermont you sometimes hear about. That matters a lot if you're dreaming about off-grid land here, so let me walk through what I found.

Zoning. The town of Salisbury has adopted its own Unified Zoning Regulations, administered by a Zoning Administrator and reviewed in tougher cases by the Development Review Board. The Select Board is the body that adopts the zoning regulations and town plan and appoints the Zoning Administrator. What this means practically: how you can use raw land, what setbacks apply, and which districts allow what, all depends on where your specific parcel sits in Salisbury's zoning map. There's no substitute for calling the Zoning Administrator with your parcel info before you buy or build.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I could not find specific bylaw text addressing tiny homes or RV living in Salisbury's regulations. That doesn't mean it's banned, it means I don't have confirmation either way, and this is squarely a "call the Zoning Administrator" question.

Building permits. Vermont doesn't have a statewide building code that applies to single-family, owner-occupied homes, so Salisbury's own zoning permit process is the main local control you'll run into. The town's site also points people toward state building permit information, so plan on touching base with both town and state resources.

Septic and composting toilets. This one is state, not town. Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation took over universal jurisdiction on wastewater and water supply permitting back in 2007, meaning any new building needing a wastewater system or water supply goes through the state, even in a small town like Salisbury. Composting and incinerating toilets need a permit from the Agency of Natural Resources under the same rules. Salisbury doesn't appear to layer any extra local septic rule on top.

Greywater. Same story, state-regulated. Any soil-based disposal system, which covers most greywater setups, needs a DEC permit. Minor plumbing changes that stay inside your building's walls are treated differently, but once greywater leaves the building for disposal, the state program applies.

Rainwater harvesting. I found no Salisbury-specific rule here, so state guidance on non-potable use is your baseline. Seems to be one of the more open categories.

Wells. New potable water supplies fall under that same DEC wastewater and water supply program. No separate Salisbury well ordinance turned up in my research.

Utilities. No evidence of a Salisbury bylaw forcing you to connect to municipal power, water, or sewer, and honestly, this rural a town, there's likely no municipal sewer to connect to anyway. But living off-grid here still means your wastewater and water systems need state permits, and your dwelling needs a town zoning permit. Off-grid isn't off-the-rulebook.

Bottom line: Salisbury gives you real flexibility on utilities and rainwater, but zoning, septic, and water supply are all actively regulated, one at town level and two at state level. Confirm everything with the actual offices before you commit to land or a build.