Off-Grid Living in Brighton, Vermont

I'll be upfront about something important before we get into the details: Brighton, Vermont is a zoned town, not one of the "wide open" unzoned towns you sometimes hear about in the Northeast Kingdom. That said, a 2024 citizen petition surfaced proposing to repeal the town's zoning regulations entirely. I have no confirmation on where that petition stands now, so if you're considering land here, your very first call should be to the Town Clerk to find out whether zoning is still in force.

Assuming zoning still applies, here's what I found. Brighton's Zoning Bylaw (administered locally, last substantially revised in 2012, with 2024 amendments in draft) requires a zoning permit for essentially all "land development" before you build or significantly alter land use. That permit comes from the Zoning Administrator, an appointed town official who, per the bylaw, has no discretion to approve anything that doesn't conform to the rules as written.

The town is split into districts: Village, Neighborhood Residential, Lake, and Rural Residential, plus some industrial zones noted in the Town Plan. The Rural Residential district is specifically described as low-density and near, but not necessarily connected to, electrical infrastructure, which is worth noting if you're eyeing off-grid parcels. The Lake District explicitly allows properties served by onsite water and septic rather than municipal systems, which tells me off-grid infrastructure is normal and expected in parts of town, not exotic.

On tiny homes and RVs as full-time dwellings, I couldn't pin down a specific provision in the bylaw text I reviewed. There's language about accessory structures and a note that anything beyond a one- or two-unit dwelling needs Development Review Board site plan approval, but nothing definitive on RV or tiny-house occupancy. This is a "call the Zoning Administrator" question.

Septic and greywater are state matters here, not town ones. I found no evidence Brighton has been delegated authority over wastewater permitting, so the Vermont DEC's Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Program handles septic and greywater permits directly through its regional office. Composting toilets and greywater systems fall under that same state rulebook.

Rainwater harvesting: I found nothing in Brighton's bylaw restricting it, and no separate state prohibition surfaced in my research, so I'm treating it as generally permitted for non-potable uses, though I'd confirm nothing's changed.

Private wells fall under Vermont DEC and Department of Health oversight, again with no Brighton-specific ordinance found layered on top.

Bottom line: living disconnected from utilities looks workable in Brighton, especially in the Rural Residential and Lake districts, but you'll be navigating both a town zoning permit and state water/wastewater compliance, not one or the other.