Anderson County, SC Ordinances (2026)

Anderson County bans playing a car radio, boom box or similar device loud enough to be plainly audible 50 feet away or inside another residence, and treats a vehicle's muffler…

Anderson County bans loudspeakers, sound amplifiers and PA systems from being plainly audible across a property line between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, and between 10:00…

Anderson County defines a "barking dog" as one that barks, bays, cries or howls continuously for ten minutes, or intermittently for a half hour or more, to the disturbance of any…

Anderson County Code § 24-169(f) exempts construction noise from the county's noise performance standards between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., covering site preparation, assembly…

Anderson County bans loudspeakers, sound amplifiers and similar sound systems from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. on weekends and holidays in or near…

Anderson County Code § 24-169 caps continuous sound at a facility or property line using A-weighted decibel limits that shift by land use and time of day: 74 dBA daytime and 69 dBA…

Anderson County makes it a misdemeanor to drink or hold an open container of beer, wine or liquor on any posted street, park or public place in the unincorporated county, or as a…

Anderson County bars smoking of tobacco or any other plant or weed material at outdoor county-owned venues: amphitheatres, ball parks and stadiums during athletic events, and shelters…

Anderson County bars drones, unmanned aircraft systems and remote-controlled model aircraft from taking off, landing or operating in county parks and recreation areas. Flying one…

Near Anderson Regional Airport, county code bars any land or water use, including drones and unmanned aircraft systems, that interferes with navigation signals, pilot visibility or…

Anderson County's sign article exempts window signs outright under Code of Ordinances § 24-243(9). Unlike real estate, institutional or garage-sale signs on the same exemption list…

Anderson County exempts open house, garage sale and yard sale signs from sign permits under Code of Ordinances § 24-243(5), but only if they sit outside the road right-of-way, at least…

Anyone who wants to excavate, encroach on, or otherwise alter a county-maintained road or right-of-way in Anderson County must apply for an encroachment permit with the county…

Anderson County makes it the property owner's duty to keep leaf piles out of gutters, inlets, catch basins and ditches, and makes it unlawful to place yard waste anywhere concentrated…

Anderson County requires publicly patronized businesses, from fast food outlets to shopping centers and hospitals, to provide litter receptacles, and specifically requires dumpsters to…

Anderson County makes it unlawful to dump, throw, drop, deposit, or discard litter or solid waste on any public or private property or in county waters, whether from a vehicle or on…

New and substantially improved homes and manufactured homes in Anderson County's mapped flood hazard areas must have the lowest floor elevated at least two feet above the base flood…

Anderson County requires a stormwater management and sediment control plan and permit before disturbing an acre or more of land, covering construction-site erosion and sediment control…

Anderson County requires a floodplain development permit before any grading, filling or construction inside the special flood hazard areas mapped in FEMA's December 21, 2017 flood…

Anderson County's stormwater management article implements its federal NPDES small-MS4 permit to control pollutant discharges into the county storm sewer system, prohibiting illicit…

Anderson County authorizes the county forest ranger, part of the state forestry commission, to declare a fire state of emergency during drought and impose a countywide ban on open…

Anderson County caps how much of a lot can be covered by buildings, pavement, and other impervious surfaces: 55 percent for residential, 80 percent for commercial and industrial uses…

Anderson County Code § 24-117 sets minimum yard setbacks for every building and structure in the unincorporated area, scaled to road classification and use. Front yards run 30 feet off…

Anderson County doesn't cap building height at a flat number of feet. Instead, § 24-118 requires any building or structure of 30 feet or taller to step back an extra foot from every…

Anderson County bans weeds and rank vegetation over 12 inches tall within 200 feet of a platted subdivision or residential structure under § 26-142, with carve-outs for genuine…

Anderson County levies a uniform 3 percent accommodations fee on the gross proceeds from renting any hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, condominium, campground, or RV space to a…

Anderson County has no standalone plumbing ordinance; § 8-79(a) simply directs the county to enforce whatever mandatory technical codes the state building codes council adopts, and…

Anderson County requires a building permit before most new construction or improvements in the unincorporated area, but § 8-116 carves out several exceptions. Owner-performed work…

No public utility or electric cooperative may connect power to a building or mobile home in unincorporated Anderson County until the owner has the required building permit and the…

Anderson County enforces International Property Maintenance Code Section 303 for pool, spa and hot tub safety, but swaps in the barrier definition from the International Swimming Pool…

Anderson County's zoning ordinance treats a swimming pool as an accessory use requiring its own site standards: § 6:13.2 sets a five-foot minimum setback, matching the setback for…

Anderson County has no landlord-specific habitability code; instead, § 8-172 lets the codes director declare any dwelling, rented or owner-occupied, unfit for human habitation when…

Anderson County zoning caps residential lots to one travel or camping trailer per family and bars anyone from living in it while it is parked or stored, whether briefly or permanently…

Anderson County's zoning ordinance limits residential lots outside the R-A district to one commercial vehicle per resident family, bans trucks that haul explosives, gasoline, or…

Anderson County requires every use in the unincorporated area to provide off-street loading space adequate for its own operations under Code of Ordinances § 24-216. Vehicles loading or…

Anderson County treats an unlicensed car left sitting more than 90 days as a "junk automobile" under its Junkyard and Open Storage Ordinance. Once a vehicle qualifies, keeping it on a…

Anderson County Code § 24-149 requires a valid DHEC license, issued within six months, before the county will permit a tattoo facility, and bars the business from locating within 1,000…

Anderson County requires anyone working in a massage parlor to hold a sexually oriented business employee license, issued by the development standards department for a $25.00 fee after…

Anderson County requires a sexually oriented business permit from the development standards department before any adult business can open, and bars locating within 2,000 feet of a…

On any corner lot with a required front and side yard, Anderson County bars fences, plantings, or anything else that blocks sightlines between 2.5 and 10 feet high inside a 25-foot…

Anderson County does not allow a standalone residential accessory dwelling; the zoning code permits one accessory dwelling unit only inside a commercial or industrial building tied to…

In Anderson County's single-family residential districts, a shed or other accessory building can only go in the rear yard, and it must clear every lot line by at least five feet and…

Anderson County allows home occupations in any residential district if no more than two outside workers are employed, no off-premises merchandise is sold, nothing is displayed to the…

Anderson County zoning lists a child care home among the home occupations allowed by right in any residential district, subject to a two-worker cap, a ban on street-visible…

Anderson County restricts home occupation signage to a single non-illuminated nameplate no larger than two square feet, mounted flat against the wall of the house where the business…

Anderson County requires every pet owner to keep their animal 'under reasonable control and restraint at all times,' and Sec. 4-4(c)(1) makes it unlawful to let a dog or other pet run…

Anderson County does not ban or restrict animals by breed: Sec. 4-1 states an animal 'is not a dangerous animal solely by virtue of breed or species.' Instead, a dog or other animal…

Anderson County doesn't require pet owners generally to sterilize their animals, but Sec. 4-32 mandates it for every dog or cat adopted from the county animal shelter: sterilization…

Anderson County bans keeping any carnivore that is not normally domesticated and not native to South Carolina, such as lions, tigers, or wolves, unless the owner holds a state permit…

In unincorporated Anderson County, Sec. 7:4 of the zoning ordinance bars keeping livestock other than ponies and horses in the R-15 and R-20 residential districts, while the R-A…

Anderson County's Unfit Dwellings article, authorized by S.C. Code § 31-15-310 et seq., lets the codes director order an owner to repair or demolish a dwelling found dangerous or…

Anderson County shields normal farm activity from its noise ordinance: section 26-126(a) exempts noises arising from normal farm activities from any action under the county's noise…

Anderson County zones farmland through the R-A, Residential Agricultural District. Sec. 5:2 allows crop production, livestock pens, barns, riding stables and tree farms as uses…

Anderson County Code § 26-142 makes it unlawful for an owner to let a lot within 200 feet of a subdivision or residence host a vermin infestation, defined at § 26-141 as an overrunning…

Once Anderson County Council proclaims a severe or extreme drought, an unresolved leak becomes an enforcement trigger, not just a waste of water. Sec. 44-258 lets water suppliers…

Anderson County parks are open from sunrise to sundown and close overnight, with exceptions for boat launching, fishing and designated camping areas. Parks posted and lit for…

Anderson County exempts permitted parades, public performances and gatherings from its countywide noise ordinance, so an event with a properly obtained county permit will not be cited…

Anderson County Code § 24-176 requires exterior illumination on nonresidential sites to be designed to promote safety and security while limiting light trespass and reducing glare, and…