Orangeburg County, SC Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

16 lists ten standards a home occupation must meet wherever Table 1 conditionally permits one. The use has to be carried on wholly within the principal building, and the space it occupies cannot exceed 25 percent of the home's floor area or 500 square feet, whichever is smaller. No activity, outdoor storage, display or refuse area is allowed in the yard unless it is completely screened from public view, and no merchandise or articles connected to the business may be displayed where visible from outside the building.

The ordinance caps staffing at one person who does not live in the residence, and it bars retail sale of merchandise manufactured somewhere else, keeping the use tied to services and home-based production rather than a storefront. Two catch-all standards backstop the list: the occupation cannot alter the residential character of the building or premises in any way, and it cannot generate noise, glare, heat, vibration, smoke, dust or odor perceptible to adjacent property. 16(4), covered separately. Because home occupations are conditional, an applicant works through the Zoning Administrator's conditional-use process before starting the business, on top of whatever other use standards apply to the residential district itself.