Off-Grid Living in Stannard, Vermont

I've been digging into Stannard, Vermont for anyone thinking about buying raw land up there and going off-grid, and the honest headline is: this is a zoned town, even though it's tiny, rural, and doesn't even have paved roads. Don't assume "small and remote" means "unregulated."

Zoning. Stannard has its own Zoning & Subdivision Bylaw, administered locally, most recently shown as adopted in 2009 with amendment history going back to 1994. That bylaw and the town plan are hosted by the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), the regional planning commission that supports the town. I was not able to pull the actual bylaw text on things like minimum lot occupancy, dwelling size, or RV/tiny-home standards in this research pass, so treat that as unconfirmed and call the Town Clerk's office to get the current bylaw language before you plan anything.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Same story: not confirmed at the bylaw-text level. This is set at the town level, not the state, so you really do need to ask Stannard's Town Clerk or Zoning Administrator directly.

Building permits. Vermont has no statewide residential building code for owner-occupied single-family homes, so whatever permit process exists is local. In Stannard that appears to run through the Town Clerk's office. Confirm the actual process and forms directly with them.

Septic and composting toilets. This one is firmly state-level. Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has held universal jurisdiction over wastewater and potable water permitting since 2007, and that applies to single-family homes, cabins, yurts, accessory apartments, essentially anything new or being repaired/replaced. Composting toilets go through the same DEC review. I found no town exemption for Stannard.

Greywater. Also state-regulated under the same DEC Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Rules. Greywater setups are treated as non-conventional wastewater systems needing a state permit; no local carve-out found.

Rainwater harvesting. No Stannard bylaw restricting catchment for non-potable use turned up in my research, so the state baseline (generally permissive) appears to apply.

Wells. State rules on siting, construction, and testing apply, administered through DEC's regional offices, in this case the St. Johnsbury office covering Caledonia County. No additional Stannard well ordinance was found.

Living off-grid / disconnected from utilities. No bylaw was found requiring hookup to municipal electric or sewer, and frankly Stannard doesn't have municipal water or sewer systems anyway given how rural it is. But going off-grid on water and waste still means you need that state wastewater/water supply permit.

Bottom line: the state layer (DEC septic/well/water permitting) is well documented and strict. The town layer (zoning specifics, dwelling standards) is real but its details weren't accessible in this research, so a phone call to Stannard's Town Clerk is your next step.