Greenville County, SC Ordinances (2026)

Unincorporated Greenville County residents self-haul bulky waste to a Residential Waste & Recycling Center or the Twin Chimneys Landfill, up to three cubic yards per vehicle per day…

Dumping trash on public or private property in Greenville County is illegal under County Code §9-122 and South Carolina's litter law, SC Code §16-11-700. State penalties escalate by…

Greenville County has no mandatory recycling ordinance, but operates free drop-off recycling at its Residential Waste & Recycling Centers, dropoff sites and Twin Chimneys Landfill…

Greenville County does not run a countywide curbside garbage service in unincorporated areas. Residents either hire a private hauler or self-haul household waste to a staffed…

Greenville County's zoning and animal codes set no specific beekeeping rule: there is no hive count, setback, or permit for bees in the county code. Beekeeping is treated as an…

Livestock and horses are limited by zoning. In R-15, R-20, and ESD-PM districts, horses need at least 1.5 acres with one head per half-acre; in the R-20A district livestock shelters…

Greenville County will not let anyone adopt a dog or cat from its animal shelter unless the animal has first been spayed or neutered by a licensed veterinarian. County Code Sec…

Greenville County lets dog owners satisfy the mandatory pet-identification rule with a registered microchip instead of a collar tag, under County Code Sec. 4-14(d). Microchips also…

Greenville County requires every cat to carry current rabies protection under County Code Sec. 4-14(a). Unlike dogs, cats are excused from wearing a rabies tag under Sec. 4-14(c), but…

Greenville County makes it unlawful for a dog owner to let the animal off the owner's property unless it is under physical control by leash or similar restraint, under County Code Sec…

Greenville County bans keeping a wild, dangerous or vicious animal as a pet or for display without an annual permit from the animal control office, under County Code Sec. 4-20(a). The…

Where a house wall serves as part of the barrier, doors and low windows with direct pool access must have an audible alarm. Pedestrian gates must open outward, be self-closing, and…

Unincorporated Greenville County requires a permit under the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code before building, altering or repairing a residential pool or spa. The…

A carport is an accessory structure in Greenville County. It follows the same accessory-building rule: in the rear or side yard it must be set back at least five feet from any lot…

In unincorporated Greenville County, one detached accessory dwelling unit is allowed alongside a principal home only in the AG (Agricultural Preservation) district. It cannot exceed…

Greenville County has no general tiny-home category. A manufactured home may be allowed in any district as a Temporary Accessory Dwelling for a hardship or medical need, only by Board…

Greenville County has no separate garage-conversion permit, but converting a garage into living space is a change of use that must meet the zoning district's building setbacks and…

Backyard campfires and recreational fires are allowed in Greenville County under the state's open-burning exemption, provided they use clean wood, stay at least 25 feet from…

Consumer fireworks are legal in South Carolina. Anyone 16 or older may buy, store, and set off state-approved 1.4G consumer fireworks. Greenville County has no countywide ban, but a…

South Carolina has no statewide defensible-space clearance mandate like California. In Greenville County brush is usually cleared by burning yard debris, which is legal under…

You may burn leaves, branches, and yard trimmings from your own residence under SC Regulation 61-62.2, but state law requires you to notify the SC Forestry Commission before burning…

Greenville County caps liquefied petroleum gas storage at any one installation at 2,000 gallons of water capacity within the fire department's established congested-area limits, under…

South Carolina law requires smoke detectors in every one- and two-family rental dwelling in Greenville County, and a newly built or substantially remodeled home must use an…

The county Zoning Ordinance limits oversized commercial rigs on residential lots to FHWA Classes 1, 2, 3, and 5 (heavy Class 5 capped at one), and allows only one travel or camping…

On public rights-of-way, a vehicle left over 48 hours is abandoned and may be seized (County Code Sec. 9-142). On private property, Code Enforcement can order removal of inoperable…

In the unincorporated county, the Zoning Ordinance limits residential lots to one travel or camping trailer, which may not be lived in unless in an authorized manufactured-home park…

Greenville County does not require ordinary residential fences, but its Zoning Ordinance mandates 6-foot screening fences (or equivalent buffers) around pools encroaching side yards…

Greenville County sets no general residential retaining-wall height in its zoning code, but structural retaining walls are subject to the county Building Permit rule, and the Land…

The county Zoning Ordinance requires a Building Permit endorsed by the Zoning Administrator before land is used or a structure is erected. Confirm fence-specific permitting with…

Greenville County has no standing year-round watering schedule. Mandatory outdoor water restrictions come from the South Carolina Drought Response Act and your local water utility…

Greenville County has no general ordinance requiring a permit to prune trees on your own private lot. County tree standards apply to new development and to trees preserved under an…

Greenville County requires no tree-removal permit for a homeowner clearing trees on an established residential lot. The county Tree Ordinance (No. 4173) and Land Development…

Backyard composting is allowed in Greenville County; there is no ordinance banning home compost piles. Composting must not create odor, vermin, or a nuisance, and agricultural…

Greenville County has no ordinance restricting native or naturalized landscaping on a private lot, as long as the yard is not an overgrown weedy nuisance. County landscaping standards…

Greenville County bans unmanaged weeds and rank vegetation on any lot within 200 feet of a platted subdivision or zoned residential area, and in the R-7.5 through R-20 districts…

Short-term stays in Greenville County owe South Carolina's 7% accommodations sales tax plus the 2% statewide accommodations tax. The county's own tourism levy is a 2% Local Hospitality…

For a Bed and Breakfast, the County Zoning Ordinance requires one off-street parking space per guest room, and all parking must be located in the rear or on the side of the facility…

For a Bed and Breakfast in a residential zoning district, the County Zoning Ordinance requires the property owner to reside in the structure and keep it functioning primarily as a…

Greenville County has no standalone short-term-rental permit. In the unincorporated county, renting a home to transients is treated as a Bed and Breakfast or Hotel/Motel use and is…

For the residential lodging use closest to a short-term rental, the County Zoning Ordinance limits a Bed and Breakfast to a maximum of four guest rooms and bars in-room cooking…

The county has no general host-presence mandate for all short-term rentals, but its Bed and Breakfast conditions require the owner to reside in the structure. That owner-occupancy…

Greenville County sets no minimum-stay requirement and no annual cap on the number of nights a property may be rented short-term. State tax law does treat stays of 90 or more…

Greenville County does not require short-term-rental operators to carry a specific liability insurance policy. The Bed and Breakfast conditions instead require compliance with all tax…

Cooking outdoors is broadly allowed in Greenville County. Fires for preparing food for immediate consumption are exempt from open-burning rules. For multifamily buildings the SC Fire…

Backyard smokers and pellet or charcoal cookers are treated as cooking devices in Greenville County, so their smoke is exempt from open-burning rules as food preparation. There is no…

In single-family districts (e.g. R-6), Greenville County requires front setbacks of 20 ft on residential streets, 30 ft on collectors, and 50 ft on arterials, with a 5 ft side and 25…

Table 7.3 of the Greenville County Zoning Ordinance sets a 45-foot maximum height in residential districts. Buildings may exceed the limit only if side and rear yards are widened 1…

Greenville County's residential Table 7.3 controls development through lot width, setbacks, and height rather than a single-family lot-coverage percentage. Some special districts do…

On your own property, a garage-sale sign is an on-premises yard sign (up to three, six square feet, five feet tall, no permit). Off-premises weekend directional signs are allowed only…

Greenville County's sign ordinance is content-neutral, so political signs are handled as on-premises yard signs. No more than three yard signs are allowed without a permit, each no…

Freestanding signs on property that directly abuts an interstate highway or its frontage road get the county's largest sign allowance: up to 225 square feet of sign face and 35 feet of…

In unincorporated Greenville County, a window sign placed within 12 inches of the glass is exempt from a sign permit, but County Code § 19-42(c) caps combined exempt and permitted…

Electronic message centers in unincorporated Greenville County cannot exceed 75 percent of a sign's allowable copy area under County Code § 19-53(a). Business-area displays must hold…

Greenville County's zoning ordinance permits home occupations as accessory uses in residential districts, provided they are secondary and clearly incidental to residential use. Section…

South Carolina's Cottage Food Law (SC Code Section 44-1-143) lets residents make and sell non-potentially-hazardous foods from home with no DHEC permit or inspection. Greenville County…

A day care home serving five or fewer persons is a permitted home occupation in Greenville County's residential zones. Only those residing in the home may be involved in day-to-day…

A home-based business in unincorporated Greenville County may display exactly one sign, and it must be non-illuminated, mounted flat against the home's wall, and no larger than two…

Greenville County has no county-wide dark-sky ordinance for existing homes, but in its Environmentally Sensitive (ESD-PM) district, lighting must use downward or shielded fixtures and…

Greenville County limits light trespass through its development standards. In the Environmentally Sensitive (ESD-PM) district, light trespass may measure no greater than 0.1…

Every billboard in unincorporated Greenville County, lit from inside or with external floodlights, must stay within the same 0.3 foot-candle brightness ceiling that governs all signs…

Greenville County confines sexually oriented businesses to S-1 zoned districts and requires a permit from the zoning department before operating. Operators must also clear a 1,500-foot…

Towing a vehicle without the owner's consent from a commercial parking lot in unincorporated Greenville County is capped at $75 to tow and $10 a day to store a vehicle under 10,000…

Greenville County bans weeds and rank vegetation on vacant lots within 200 feet of a platted subdivision or zoned residential area. In the R-7.5 through R-20 districts, unimproved lots…

Greenville County's codes administrator can declare a dwelling unfit for human habitation and order the owner to repair it, vacate and close it, or demolish it, depending on whether…

Greenville County splits code-violation reporting between two agencies: the Sheriff's Office and the Codes Enforcement Division. County Code Sec. 9-151 makes reporting a duty of every…

Greenville County's Historic Preservation Commission designates real property as historic and certifies rehabilitation work under County Code § 7-13, unlocking a special property tax…

Anyone disturbing or using a county road right-of-way in unincorporated Greenville County, including installations that run under or near a sidewalk, needs an Encroachment Permit from…

Greenville County requires a Stormwater Management and Sediment Control Plan or land disturbance permit before any land-disturbing activity begins in the unincorporated county…

Clearing, stripping, excavating or grading land anywhere in unincorporated Greenville County requires a land disturbance permit first. The county's stormwater ordinance sets numeric…

New and substantially improved homes in a Greenville County flood zone must have their lowest floor, plus all mechanical and electrical equipment, at least 4 feet above the base flood…

Any development in a special flood hazard area of unincorporated Greenville County needs a development permit before work starts. The rule covers the whole floodplain mapped in the…

A food truck or vending vehicle parked in a street or road right-of-way in unincorporated Greenville County may sell only from the curb side, never into moving traffic or to anyone…

In unincorporated Greenville County, County Code § 15-7 bars anyone from standing on a street or highway to solicit money, business or employment from vehicle occupants. Only rescue…

County Code § 15-9 makes it a misdemeanor to loiter in any public place in unincorporated Greenville County with the purpose of soliciting prostitution or engaging in illegal drug…

Greenville County Code § 15-10 makes it a misdemeanor to physically or verbally resist, hinder, impede or interfere with a county law enforcement officer in the unincorporated area…

Greenville County awards developers a zoning density bonus for preserving trees beyond the minimum required credit. A developer who exceeds the required tree density unit credit by 10%…

Greenville County's tree ordinance singles out Heritage (Historic) Trees and Specimen Trees for extra protection on development sites. Site plans must account for their location, and…

Greenville County doesn't stop a landowner from removing a heritage or historic tree: the definition in its tree ordinance says trees on the county's Historic and Specimen Tree List…

Greenville County's noise ordinance exempts most lawfully established businesses from its decibel limits, but County Code § 15-102(b) carves that exemption back out for any business…

Greenville County declares low-frequency bass from a stereo, phonograph or musical instrument a nuisance whenever it causes 'material distress, discomfort or injury to persons of…

Greenville County treats a dog as a nuisance once it barks continuously and persistently for more than 15 minutes, under County Code Sec. 4-17. Neighbors within 200 feet of the barking…

Greenville County bans playing a car stereo, radio, cassette or CD player loud enough to be heard 50 feet from the vehicle, under County Code § 15-102(a). Penalties escalate fast: §…

Greenville County caps sound crossing a property line at 70 decibels between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and 60 decibels overnight under County Code § 15-102(a). The limit applies…

Greenville County caps bicycle speed at 20 miles per hour on the Swamp Rabbit Trail and bans motorized vehicles, off-road recreation vehicles and unauthorized commercial activity on…

No building permit can be issued in unincorporated Greenville County unless the lot has at least 20 feet of frontage, or a 20-foot recorded easement, on a public road, under County…

Unincorporated Greenville County requires a plumbing permit under the 2021 South Carolina Plumbing Code before any plumbing installation, alteration or repair begins. The Building…

Unincorporated Greenville County requires an electrical permit under the 2020 National Electrical Code before installing, altering or replacing electrical systems or equipment. A first…

Unincorporated Greenville County levies no separate business license tax; instead, County Code § 21-3 classifies any business holding a state license, permit, or registration, from…

Unincorporated Greenville County enforces the International Property Maintenance Code, 2021 Edition, against landlords who fail to provide heat or pest-proof screens. Owners must…