Darlington County, SC Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)

Appendix A, Section 15.8 of the Development Standards Ordinance sets five specific limits on how outdoor advertising signs may be lit in unincorporated Darlington County. Any lighted sign must be constructed and maintained so beams or rays of light are shielded from shining onto the street or road the sign faces, and no sign may use lighting bright enough to cause glare or impair a driver's vision or otherwise interfere with vehicle operation. Ground-mounted lighting fixtures aimed up at a billboard face are prohibited entirely; illumination must come from another source and must be indirect and non-flashing.

The ordinance also sets a numeric ceiling: lighting levels cannot increase by more than 0.3 foot-candles over the ambient light level, measured with a foot-candle meter at a preset distance from the sign, a standard first adopted in 2009 and folded into the 2018 sign-code rewrite. These lighting limits apply on top of the general illumination rule in Section 15.1, which separately bars any illumination that simulates traffic signals or emergency vehicles or that flashes, dims or brightens to create the illusion of movement. Because Section 15.8 sits within Article Fifteen, it applies to every off-premises outdoor advertising sign in the unincorporated county, not to on-premises business signage, which the ordinance excludes from regulation.

A sign owner who wants to add or change lighting must still go through the Section 15.11 permitting process with the planning department before pulling a building permit.