"“Camping” On Your Own Land Is Now Illegal"

"In Costilla County, Colorado, there has been a major influx of off-grid residents to the San Luis Valley. The combination of lax zoning regulations, cheap property, and an already thriving community of self-reliant off-grid homesteaders has led to many new residents."

The off-grid lifestyle, enjoyed by an estimated 800 people, is now being threatened as county officials have recently made moves to essentially regulate and license the lifestyle into oblivion.

Tensions boiled over during a county commissioners’ meeting in San Louis, Colorado, devolving into a shouting match between homesteaders and police. One of the major points of contention is the county’s attempt to ban camping on your own property, in an effort to force the off-grid homesteaders back onto the grid.

“We are residents who have come to live off the grid. It’s all our land.” … “These are harsh economic times. We have nowhere to go,” twenty-year resident Paul Skinner said.

“We’ve been regulated out of life,” homesteader Robin Rutan told Colorado Public Radio. “I came here because I couldn’t live by the codes [in other regions].”

The county, which requires residents to have a camping permit to live in an RV, “small house” or other camp style home, has started to simply refuse the renewal of these permits.

This is obviously a major problem for homesteaders, who often live in such accommodations while building their permanent residents.

“They started enforcing the changes before they were actually made,” resident Chloe Everhart said.

Everhart said she performed due diligence prior to buying her land, with one of the most important aspects of the plan being a 90-day camping permit. Without a 90-day permit, camping on residential plots is only allowed for 14 days per every three months.

But just as Everhart was arriving, the board of commissioners instructed the planning and zoning commission to no longer issue camping permits.

In spite of her best efforts, Everhart is now an outlaw.

Let's Get Zoning: Somerville Massachusetts

"Hello. And welcome to Let’s Get Zoning, a celebration of the laws that govern how land is used in Somerville Massachusetts. For those who aren’t familiar, Somerville is a 4.2 square mile city located next to Boston Massachusetts, on the eastern seaboard of the United States."