Off-Grid Living in Fayston, Vermont

Fayston, Vermont is a small town in the Mad River Valley, and like most Vermont towns it runs its own zoning show even though the state controls water and wastewater. If you're eyeing land here for an off-grid setup, here's what I found digging through the town's and state's official pages.

Zoning. Fayston is zoned, full stop. The town's Land Use Regulations (last updated May 2023, administered by the town's Zoning Administrator) require a zoning permit for what they broadly call "land development," which covers new construction, alterations, changes in use, subdividing, and more. This is a town-level requirement, not a state Act 250 review, though large projects can still trigger Act 250 separately. Don't assume raw land is a free-for-all here; check with the Zoning Administrator before you do anything.

Dwellings, tiny homes, RVs. I didn't find a specific Fayston bylaw calling out tiny homes or RVs as dwellings. The regulations do require conditional use review for a lot of situations, setbacks near wetlands and streams, home occupations, and so on. Whether a tiny house or RV counts as a "dwelling" or "structure" needing a permit isn't spelled out in what I reviewed, so this is genuinely unclear at the town level. Call the Zoning Administrator directly before you set one up.

Building permits. Fayston issues its own zoning/building permits and even Certificates of Occupancy. Driveways have to meet town standards, which reference the state's VTrans B-71 driveway standards. Vermont doesn't have one uniform statewide residential building code the way some states do, so a lot of the technical requirements run through the town.

Septic and toilets. This one's clear: Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation has held statewide jurisdiction over wastewater and water supply permitting since July 1, 2007. That means any new home, any wastewater system, or any alternative toilet setup needs a state Wastewater System Construction Permit, and Fayston's own permit paperwork explicitly reminds applicants of this. The town isn't the one issuing that permit, the state is.

Greywater. I didn't find any Fayston-specific carve-out for greywater. It falls under that same state wastewater permitting umbrella described above. Don't assume a "simple" greywater setup skips the state process.

Rainwater harvesting. No Fayston-specific bylaw turned up on rainwater collection. State guidance generally allows non-potable rainwater use, but I'd still confirm with the Zoning Administrator whether a cistern or catchment structure counts as something needing a local permit.

Wells. Same as septic: the state's Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Program governs private well siting and construction statewide, and Fayston's permit form points applicants there for any new home's water supply.

Off-grid utilities. Fayston has no municipal water or sewer system, so there's no local requirement to hook up to anything you don't have access to anyway. That said, any structure or water/wastewater system you build still needs the town zoning permit and the state permits described above.

Bottom line: Fayston lets you go off-grid in the sense that there's no municipal utility to fight, but you're still working through a real permitting process at both town and state levels for structures, wells, and wastewater. Don't skip the calls.