Lincoln County, SD Ordinances (2026)

Every new subdivision in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota must submit a drainage plan covering detention ponds, drainage channels and easements. Post-development runoff…

Anyone developing in a flood hazard area of unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota needs a permit from the county Floodplain Administrator before starting work. The permit covers…

Development sites in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota must control erosion to the standards of the county's Conservation District, minimizing vegetation stripping and…

New and substantially improved residential structures in Lincoln County, South Dakota's flood hazard areas must have their lowest floor built at least two feet above the base flood…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, fences are exempt from a building permit under the county's adopted 2018 International Residential Code amendments, Lincoln County Code…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, a retaining wall does not need a building permit if it stands 4 feet or less, measured from the bottom of the grade to the top of the…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, fences may rise to four feet anywhere on a lot, but a fence within 30 feet of a street intersection can be no more than 30% solid…

Lincoln County, South Dakota requires smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area, and on every additional story of a dwelling, including basements and…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota lets the Board of County Commissioners declare a fire danger emergency by resolution and prohibit open burning countywide under Code §…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota requires anyone burning outdoors to first notify the county's Communications Director of the location and time, and to keep the fire…

Within the Water Source Protection Overlay District that Lincoln County, South Dakota superimposes over wellhead areas in the Sioux Falls Joint Zoning Jurisdiction, tanks storing a…

Selling fireworks anywhere in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota requires a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission, not a by-right zoning approval. In the A-1…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, garage, yard, and rummage sales skip the county's temporary use permit only if held no more than twice a year and lasting no longer than…

Lincoln County's zoning code requires off-street loading spaces sized to a building's use and floor area under County Code § 154.304. A retail or service building between 5,001 and…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, leaving a deteriorated, wrecked, dismantled, or unlicensed motor vehicle outside an enclosed structure is a declared nuisance under Code…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, County Code § 90.02(S) declares it a nuisance to deposit or permit the deposit of snow from private property onto a county road, county…

Building or modifying a driveway that abuts a county road in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota requires an access permit from the county's Highway Superintendent under §…

Lincoln County's zoning code requires illuminated signs and billboards to be shielded, shaded, or directed so their light does not adversely affect surrounding or facing properties…

Off-premises signs, the billboards Lincoln County allows in its C, I-1, and I-2 commercial and industrial districts, must have their light shielded, shaded, or directed so it does not…

Political campaign signs are treated as an exception to Lincoln County's off-premises sign standards, exempt from the size, spacing, and conditional use rules that apply to other…

Off-premise signs in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota may not be illuminated or use blinking or flashing lights at all in the A-1 and RC Districts under § 155.181(A)(5)…

Lincoln County, South Dakota lets a home day care caring for twelve or fewer children stay classified as an ordinary Group R-3 residence under the county's adopted 2018 International…

Lincoln County, South Dakota has not adopted the fire sprinkler mandates in the 2018 International Residential Code. Lincoln County Code § 151.33 expressly marks R309.5 fire…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, the Planning and Zoning Director acts as Building Inspector under § 151.02 and must inspect construction at defined stages. Under the…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota requires a building or zoning permit for construction covered by its adopted Uniform Building Code, per §§ 151.01, 151.03, and 151.04…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota adopts the ICC Plumbing Code by reference at § 151.18 (amendment 101.4.5), covering installation, alteration, repair, and replacement of…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota adopts the ICC Electrical Code by reference at § 151.18 (amendment 101.4.9), covering installation, alteration, repair, and replacement of…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, curbside recycling comes from licensed private haulers, not a county truck. Code § 52.10 requires every licensed garbage hauler to…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, dumping garbage, rubbish, trash, or other waste material outside an approved container or solid waste facility is declared a public…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota bars yard waste, defined as grass clippings and leaves, from both the county's solid-waste transfer station and its recycling center. Code §…

Operating a recycling collection or processing facility in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota requires its own county license, separate from a hauler's collection license…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, no company may pick up trash or recyclables from the public roads without a county license. Code § 52.07 makes it unlawful for a…

Any outdoor swimming pool, hot tub, or spa deeper than 18 inches in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota must be surrounded by a barrier at least 42 inches tall with no more…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, any structure regulated by the county's adopted building code, including a residential swimming pool, needs a building permit from the…

Minor home occupations in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota may post only a small nameplate under § 154.243(F): non-illuminated and no larger than two square feet, with no…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota allows home-based businesses under §§ 154.242 through 154.245, splitting them into minor home occupations that need no permit and major home…

Minor home occupations in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota may not draw more than four client or customer visits per day under § 154.243(I), averaged over any seven…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, within the Lincoln County/Sioux Falls Joint Zoning Jurisdiction, a family day care caring for up to six children is a permitted special…

Lincoln County, South Dakota does not restrict dogs by breed; instead County Code § 91.02 lets the Sheriff declare any animal vicious based on a known propensity to attack or bite. A…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, County Code § 91.01 bars any animal owner from letting an animal run at large, defined as being off the owner's premises without the…

In Lincoln County, South Dakota's C Commercial District, § 154.117(B) allows a veterinarian clinic, animal hospital, or animal shelter as a permitted special use, but only if there is…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, the Board of Commissioners' zoning code allows land to be used only for a purpose the applicable district lists. Agriculture, defined to…

A Class 1 major home occupation in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota cannot create noise exceeding 60 decibels off the property between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. under §…

Accessory buildings like sheds in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota must sit at least three feet from side and rear property lines when in the required rear yard under §…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota does not allow accessory dwelling units in a shed or detached garage: § 154.248(B) states plainly that accessory buildings may not be used…

Unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota treats an accumulation of manure, garbage, tires, debris, or discarded items that harbors or breeds flies, vermin, and rodents as a declared…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, County Code § 90.02(T) declares two vegetation conditions a nuisance: any weed or plant listed as a primary or secondary noxious weed by…

Lincoln County Code § 111.04(E) bars using or consuming marijuana, medical or otherwise, in any public place in unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, defining a public place as…

Private work within a Lincoln County road right-of-way, an access or driveway abutting a county road, needs a permit the Highway Superintendent issues under § 92.02. Applications must…

In the Lincoln County/Sioux Falls Joint Zoning Jurisdiction covering unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, § 155.141 bars an adult bookstore, adult theater, adult photo studio…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, a medical cannabis establishment cannot operate within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, including a daycare that serves more…

In unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, a medical cannabis dispensary is a Permitted Special Use in the C Commercial District only, allowed under § 154.117(E) if it keeps valid…

Lincoln County, South Dakota caps most buildings in the A-1 Agricultural District at 35 feet under § 154.062(E), but the same section removes the height cap entirely for farm…

In the A-1 Agricultural District, which covers most of unincorporated Lincoln County, South Dakota, § 154.062 sets a 30-foot front yard, a 30-foot rear yard, and a 7-foot side yard…

The Board of Commissioners' A-1 Agricultural District exists, per § 154.055, to preserve farmland for production and to discourage concentrated housing next to working farms in…

Before the Planning and Zoning Department will issue a building permit for a new single-family home in the A-1 Agricultural District, Lincoln County, South Dakota requires the owner to…