Mount Pleasant, SC Building Setbacks & Zoning: Structure Height Limits (2026)

Table 156.039-1 to § 156.039 sets the maximum height for principal buildings in the R-1, R-2, R-3, and R-4 Residential Districts at 35 feet outside a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and 40 feet inside an SFHA, the same limit across all four districts regardless of lot size or dwelling type. A footnote to the table makes clear this cap yields to a more specific limit set by an overlay district or the town's Building Height Plan Map, so a lot inside an overlay such as the Old Village Historic District or the Neighborhood Character Preservation Overlay District (NP-OD) can be held to a stricter number.

Section 156.1626 defines how height is measured. Where height is regulated in feet, as it is in Table 156.039-1, it runs vertically from the grade plane to the average height of the highest roof surface. Where a limit is instead expressed in stories, a story runs from the top of one finished floor to the top of the next, and for the top story, to the top of the ceiling joists or roof rafters if there is no ceiling; an attic counts as a story only if it holds habitable attic space as defined by the Building Code, and a half story cannot exceed 50% of the floor area of the story below it.

Section 156.1627 exempts specific features from the height cap so long as they are not built for human occupancy: chimneys, antennas, church spires, belfries, cupolas, domes, smokestacks, aerials, screened mechanical equipment, elevator penthouses, masts, and construction cranes, among others. Rooftop decks, pergolas, and other occupiable rooftop features do not get this exemption and must stay within the district's height limit.