Horry County, SC Outdoor Lighting: Billboard Lighting (2026)
Key Facts
- Floodlights
- Must be hooded/shielded, source hidden off-site
- Beacon/spot/search lights
- Banned on signs, public agencies excepted
- Boundary light limit
- 1 foot-candle max at property line
- Lighting intensity
- Must stay constant, no flashing
- Applies to
- All signs, including off-premise billboards
- Enforcing agency
- Horry County Zoning Administrator
- Penalty
- Up to $500 fine, 30 days jail
Summary
Horry County bans unshielded floodlights, beacons, spotlights and searchlights on any sign, including billboards, under Zoning Ordinance § 603.A. No more than one foot-candle of that illumination may be detectable at the boundary of a neighboring property.
A.Traffic hazards and sign illumination.1.No flood lights shall be utilized as a part of a sign illumination system which are not hooded or shielded so that the light source is not visible from any public right-of-way or adjacent property nor shall any sign otherwise reflect or emit a glaring light so as to impair driver vision.2.No sign illumination system shall contain or utilize any beacon, spot, search or stroboscopic light or reflector which is visible from any public right-of-way or adjacent property, nor shall such lights be operated outside, under any circumstances, except by authorized public agencies. No more than one (1) foot-candle of light shall be detectable at the boundary of any abutting property.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 88).
Full Breakdown
A's illumination rules, layered on top of the separate general property-lighting standards in § 410. Floodlights used to illuminate a sign face must be hooded or shielded so the light source itself cannot be seen from a public right-of-way or from adjacent property, and a sign may not otherwise reflect or emit glare strong enough to impair a driver's vision. Beacon, spotlight, searchlight and stroboscopic lights or reflectors are banned outright from any sign illumination system if visible from a public right-of-way or neighboring property; the only exception is a light operated by an authorized public agency.
Whatever illumination method is used, no more than one foot-candle of light may be detectable at the boundary of any property that abuts the sign. C. Off-premise signs, which under § 609 can run up to 400 square feet and 50 feet tall along corridors such as US 501 and the Carolina Bays Parkway, are held to the same floodlight, beacon and one-foot-candle boundary limits as every other sign type in the county; there is no separate, looser illumination standard for billboards.
Violations & Fines
Operating an unshielded floodlight or a beacon light on a sign is a zoning violation Horry County can enforce alongside its general sign penalties: the Zoning Administrator may order the sign or its lighting corrected under § 103, and violating the Zoning Ordinance carries up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail under § 114, with each day the unlawful illumination continues counted as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a billboard in Horry County use a floodlight?
Are beacon or searchlight-style sign lights allowed?
Is there a brightness limit measured at the property line?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Horry County
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