Off-Grid Living in Brunswick, Vermont

I'll be upfront: Brunswick, Vermont is a tiny, lightly-documented town in Essex County's Northeast Kingdom, and my research hit real limits here. There's no independent town website I could find, and I couldn't get my hands on the actual text of Brunswick's zoning bylaw. So take this as a starting map, not the final word, call the Town Clerk before you make plans.

Zoning. Brunswick is an organized, zoned town, which actually sets it apart from some of its Essex County neighbors like Ferdinand and Lewis, which are unincorporated "gores" governed by the county-level Unified Towns & Gores bylaw. Brunswick instead has its own municipal zoning bylaw, adopted March 7, 1989, plus a Town Plan from 2019, both referenced on the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA, the regional planning commission)'s town data page. I could not retrieve the bylaw's actual text, so I don't know what it says about minimum lot sizes, districts, or specific allowed uses on raw land. That's a "call the town" item.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. Not confirmed. No source I found addresses minimum dwelling size or whether you can live in an RV or camper long-term. This would live inside that same 1989 bylaw.

Building permits. I found no evidence Brunswick has adopted a local building code or runs its own building permit program. Absent a local rule, Vermont's statewide baseline applies, meaning there's no general mandatory residential structural code statewide, though statewide energy standards do apply to new construction. Confirm locally whether Brunswick has since added anything.

Septic and greywater. This is state-controlled, not a town matter. The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) runs the Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Program, issuing permits for soil-based wastewater systems handling less than 6,500 gallons a day, for private (non-public) water supplies, and for connections to municipal water/sewer. The current rules took effect in 2019. Brunswick would fall under DEC's Essex or St. Johnsbury regional office. Greywater falls under this same permitting scheme, I found no separate Brunswick greywater rule.

Rainwater harvesting. No restriction found at the state or town level; Vermont treats non-potable rainwater catchment as generally allowed.

Wells. Private well siting and construction fall under DEC's same Water Supply Rule, with additional info from the Vermont Department of Health. No Brunswick-specific well ordinance turned up.

Off-grid utility disconnection. I found nothing requiring Brunswick residents to hook into municipal electric, water, or sewer, there may not even be municipal service to hook into out there. Any wastewater or water setup you build still needs that DEC permit regardless of grid connection.

Bottom line: state rules (DEC wastewater/water permitting) are solid and confirmed. Town-level specifics on zoning, dwellings, and building permits are genuinely thin in the public record, so a phone call to the Town Clerk is your best next move.