Pickens County, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Towing Companies (2026)

Pickens County Code Chapter 10, Article V (§§ 10-131 through 10-138) governs every automobile towing storage and recovery yard operating outside the incorporated municipalities. The county planning department first issues a certificate of compliance based on a submitted site plan, then a separate operating permit valid for 12 months and renewable so long as the yard stays in compliance. Yards must sit on at least one acre excluding rights-of-way, cannot take access from a minor local street, and must keep records on every towed vehicle, including the owner's name, VIN, license plate and the date it arrived, available for inspection during normal business hours.

A six-foot opaque fence, backed by evergreen vegetation reaching eight feet at maturity, has to hide every stored vehicle from the road and neighboring parcels; the fence itself must sit 50 feet from an arterial or collector street, 40 feet from a local street, and 25 feet from side and rear lines. No more than two unlicensed or inoperable vehicles owned by the yard's own operator, employees or their immediate family may sit on site longer than 90 days, and any such vehicle visible from the right-of-way must wear a securely fastened car cover.

Non-conforming yards that predate the article keep limited exemptions but must add fencing and record-keeping within twelve months. The planning department can suspend a permit for a violation and, after 21 days without correction, refer it to the board of zoning appeals for a revocation hearing; the board can remove, extend or make permanent the suspension depending on the yard's compliance history over the prior 36 months.