Off-Grid Living in Mendon, Vermont

I've been digging into what it actually takes to live off-grid in Mendon, Vermont, and the short version is: this is a zoned town, so you can't just buy a back lot and do whatever you want, but the rules on the ground are also mid-rewrite right now, which makes some specifics genuinely fuzzy.

Zoning. Mendon has had zoning bylaws since 1986 (re-enacted in 2011), administered by a local Zoning Administrator, Planning Commission, and Zoning Board of Adjustment under Vermont's statewide enabling law (24 V.S.A. Chapter 117). The town is split into six zoning districts, and which district your parcel sits in matters a lot for what you can build. As of late 2025 the Selectboard approved a rewritten bylaw pending a Town Meeting vote, so if you're planning a purchase, ask the Zoning Administrator which version applies to your parcel right now.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I could not pin down Mendon's specific dimensional or use standards for tiny homes or RVs as primary dwellings from the available bylaw text, especially with the rewrite in progress. This is a "call before you buy or build" situation, not a "here's the answer" situation.

Building permits. Mendon requires a local zoning permit for most development, and depending on your project you may also need state permits, the town's own page lists fire safety, Act 250, wastewater, and stream alteration as common state add-ons. Worth noting: the town won't issue a certificate of occupancy or new permit on a property with an unresolved zoning violation, so any zoning history on a parcel matters before you buy.

Septic and composting toilets. This is set by the State of Vermont, not the town. Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources (DEC) requires a permit for composting and incinerating toilets under the statewide Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Rules. There's a narrow "primitive camp" exemption if occupancy is 60 days a year or less and only sink-water disposal plus a waterless toilet is involved, but adding any soil-based wastewater system still triggers review.

Greywater. Same state DEC rules apply here, inherited unchanged, no Mendon-specific greywater ordinance turned up in my research.

Rainwater harvesting. I found no Mendon or state rule restricting this, so the state's general permissive baseline seems to apply.

Wells. Vermont DEC allows replacing a single-family well without a state permit, but you must file the well location in the town land records, so the Mendon Town Clerk's office is part of that process even though there's no separate town well ordinance.

Utility disconnection. No Mendon ordinance requires hookup to municipal utilities, but whatever septic, water, or wastewater system you install off-grid still falls under state DEC permitting.

Bottom line: state rules (septic, greywater, wells) are fairly well documented and apply uniformly, but Mendon's own zoning specifics for off-grid dwellings are in flux right now. Call the Zoning Administrator before you commit to anything.