Off-Grid Living in Jericho, Vermont

Jericho, Vermont is a zoned town, and that surprises some people who assume rural Vermont is a free-for-all. It isn't. The town administers its own Land Use and Development Regulations (LUDRs), most recently amended in September 2025, and those rules sit on top of a fair amount of Vermont state law that governs water and wastewater no matter what the town says. Here's how I'd break it down if I were scouting land in Jericho.

Zoning. The Jericho Planning & Zoning Office enforces multiple districts (Rural/Agriculture Residential, Low Density Residential, Village Center/Riverside, and others) each with its own density and dimensional standards. You can't just buy a rural parcel and do whatever you want with it, any use or structure has to fit the district it's in.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. The LUDRs define "building" very broadly, broad enough to sweep in tents, campers, and vehicles used for shelter. That strongly suggests living in an RV or converted vehicle long-term would trigger the same permit requirements as a conventional home, though I didn't find a specific minimum-size or tiny-home carve-out in the excerpts I reviewed. Confirm directly with the Zoning Administrator before you commit to a non-traditional dwelling.

Building permits. Jericho requires a zoning or building permit (or conditional use approval) for permitted structures, and the town has also added a requirement, following state law, that an energy certificate be filed before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued.

Septic and composting toilets. This is a state matter, not a town one. Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources (through DEC) has held universal jurisdiction over wastewater and potable water systems since 2007. Composting and incinerating toilets require a DEC permit, with a narrow exception for genuinely primitive, undeveloped camps. Greywater disposal is covered in that same DEC rule set, so if you're running greywater it isn't just "dump it out back," get familiar with the DEC rule before you build.

Rainwater harvesting. I didn't find any Jericho-specific restriction on collecting rainwater, so this appears to fall under whatever general state baseline applies, nothing added locally.

Wells. Same DEC permit system covers new water supplies tied to new construction. No separate Jericho well ordinance turned up in my research.

Off-grid / disconnected from utilities. Nothing in the town's rules forces you to hook up to grid power or municipal water. But going off-grid doesn't get you out of the building/zoning permit or the state wastewater and water supply permitting, those apply regardless of whether you're on the grid.

Bottom line: Jericho's town-level zoning and building permit rules run in parallel with Vermont's statewide DEC wastewater/water rules, and you need to satisfy both. Call the Planning & Zoning Office early, before you buy land or move a camper onto it.