Greenwood County, SC Building Safety: Childcare Center Rules (2026)

Section 6-3-120 sets the standards county day care and child care centers must meet on top of state licensing. Under subsection (a), a center must satisfy Department of Social Services minimum standards and get a DSS letter of approval before the zoning administrator will grant zoning approval, and centers inside the county or the City of Greenwood must meet whichever local standards apply. Subsection (g) requires at least 75 square feet of usable, unpaved outdoor play area per child, and subsection (h) requires that outdoor area be enclosed by a four-foot fence, with an added privacy or screening fence where the site sits next to a more intense use that could produce smoke, dust, fumes, or noise.

Centers with 13 or more children next to single-family zoning must also meet the chapter's bufferyard requirements under subsection (l). Subsection (m) is the building-safety core of the section: every facility must be operated in a permanent structure that meets applicable fire codes, and its site plan must be approved by the Greenwood City Fire Marshal or the state fire marshal before the county will let it operate. Subsection (n) requires a physical inspection for compliance with every requirement in the section before permission to operate is granted, and subsection (o) extends all of these standards to adult day care centers as well.