Horry County, SC Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Article XII of the Horry County Zoning Ordinance sets up the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) to identify and protect the county's historic resources. Sec. A lists eleven criteria the HPC applies when recommending a property, district, cemetery or tree for local historic designation, from having significant inherent character, interest, history, or value as part of the community, to being the site of an event significant in history. Owners get thirty days' written notice before the HPC's public hearing and may appear before both the HPC and County Council to support or oppose the designation (Sec.

B). Actual designation requires Horry County Council approval on three separate readings before the property is added to the county's Historic Property Register, or, for districts, to the Official Zoning Maps (Sec. C). 3, Table 5. Once a property carries that designation, Sec. 1208 controls what an owner can do to it. A Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) is required before the county will issue a zoning compliance form or building permit for any demolition, alteration, addition, or new construction on a designated property or a contributing property inside a historic district.

Applications go to the Planning Department at least thirty days ahead of the HPC's meeting, and the Commission then has forty-five days to approve, deny, or approve with conditions, in writing, with reasons given. Any project moving forward without the required COA draws a stop-work order from the Horry County Code Enforcement Department.