Georgetown County, SC Landscaping Rules: Tree Trimming (2026)

Section 13.8-124 sits in Division 2 of Article VI, Chapter 13.8, alongside the sidewalk and bike path obstruction rules in Sections 13.8-121 through 13.8-125. It bars any shrub, tree, or other plant from growing over or onto a sidewalk or bicycle path in a way that obstructs it, and it places the duty to remove or trim that vegetation squarely on the property owner where the plant is located, not on the county or a passerby. Unlike the flat obstruction ban in Section 13.8-122, this section builds in a mandatory notice-and-cure step: no person, firm, or corporation can be fined for a violation unless a county official has first notified the owner in writing to remove or trim the plant, given the owner 15 days to act, and the owner has still failed to comply when those 15 days run out.

Only "sidewalk" and "bicycle path" as defined in Section 13.8-121, meaning ones owned or maintained by the county or the state, trigger this duty; vegetation overhanging a walkway inside a private shopping center, apartment complex, or office park is not covered. Because Section 13.8-124 does not print a dollar figure of its own, a fine imposed after the 15-day notice period expires comes from Section 1-6, the Code's general penalty provision: not more than $200, or imprisonment of not more than 30 days, with continuing noncompliance treated as a new, separately punishable offense each day. The division traces to Ordinance No. 2000-23, adopted June 14, 2000, and applies only in unincorporated Georgetown County.