Laurens County, SC Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Section 33-101 of the Laurens County Code, adopted by Ordinance No. 926 on October 11, 2022, governs multiple-family residential development in unincorporated Laurens County, and Table 11.A.4 sets a maximum building height of 45 feet for both categories the table covers: townhomes and duplexes on one side, apartments on the other. The 45-foot cap sits alongside the rest of Table 11.A.4's dwelling unit standards, which pair the height limit with a minimum front yard of 15 feet for townhomes and duplexes but only 5 feet for apartments, a minimum rear yard of 10 feet for townhomes and duplexes but 15 feet for apartments, and the same maximum 50 percent impervious surface coverage and minimum 40 percent open space that apply to the site as a whole.

Section 33-101 caps townhome and duplex density at six dwelling units per attached group and ties apartment density to lot size, 8 units per acre under one acre, 12 units per acre on one to five acres, and 14 units per acre above five acres, but states the county does not guarantee that maximum density is attainable once open space, buffers, and the impervious limit are subtracted from the site. Because Chapter 38's zoning ordinance is an unadopted placeholder, this 45-foot figure in the subdivision ordinance is the only county-imposed height ceiling that reaches a multi-family building in unincorporated Laurens County; single-family conventional subdivisions under Table 10.A.6 carry no listed height limit of their own.