Georgetown County, SC Landscaping Rules: Weed Ordinances (2026)

Sec. 7-1(1)(i) adopts the International Property Maintenance Code, 2018 Edition, with modification, as county ordinance, and Sec. 7-1(2) then lists the county's specific rewrites to that model code. Revision 2.2.3 replaces IPMC Chapter 3, Section 302.4 (Weeds) so that, as codified, all premises and exterior property in unincorporated Georgetown County must be kept free from weeds or plant growth exceeding twenty inches, and all noxious weeds are prohibited outright regardless of height. The revision defines weeds broadly as all grasses, annual plants and vegetation, excluding trees and shrubs, and it carves out an exception for cultivated flowers and gardens, so a landscaped flowerbed is not swept into the height cap.

Enforcement runs through the same code-enforcement mechanism as the rest of the maintenance code revisions in Sec. 7-1(2), including the fee schedule set in revision 2.2.2, which authorizes a $500 magistrate's court citation for an overgrown lot, or county-hired contractor cleanup billed to the property owner at the low bid price plus $200. The building department's code enforcement staff, under the director of planning and code enforcement, carries out inspections and issues citations for lots exceeding the cap.