Coastal South Carolina has no statewide defensible-space or brush-clearance requirement for homeowners like fire-prone western states. Horry County instead regulates land-clearing burns: that burning must be located at least 1,000 feet from public roadways or residential, commercial or industrial sites.
There is no Horry County ordinance requiring residents to clear brush or maintain a vegetation buffer around a house; the county's fire rule addresses burning debris, not mandatory clearing. When land is cleared and the vegetation is burned, Section 20-451 imposes stricter siting: the burn location must be 1,000 feet from public roadways or residential, commercial or industrial sites. General yard-debris burns still require the 50-foot setbacks and SC Forestry notification. The SC Forestry Commission offers voluntary Firewise guidance for the Grand Strand's pine-and-wildland interface, but it is advisory, not a code mandate.
Conducting a land-clearing burn closer than 1,000 feet to roadways or occupied sites, or without notifying SC Forestry, can bring an ordinance summons or fine.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Horry County, SC
Horry County has no standalone animal-hoarding ordinance, but its care standards and South Carolina's cruelty law reach hoarding conditions. Depriving animal...
Horry County, SC
Horry County bans feeding domestic or migratory waterfowl in residential areas because large flocks contaminate ponds and cause erosion. You also may not cre...
Horry County, SC
Horry County allows backyard composting and offers residents subsidized compost bins and rain barrels through the Solid Waste Authority. A home compost pile ...
Horry County, SC
Horry County has no ordinance banning or specifically regulating residential artificial turf; it is treated as a landscaping surface. Installation is general...
Horry County, SC
Horry County does not require homeowners to plant native or drought-tolerant species. Its landscape and tree-preservation standards apply mainly to non-resid...
Horry County, SC
Rainwater harvesting is legal in Horry County. Neither the county nor South Carolina restricts capturing rooftop rainwater in barrels or cisterns for landsca...
See how Horry County's brush clearance rules stack up against other locations.
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