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

2 lists illumination as one of the 'Sign Characteristics' that can attach to any sign type, including the billboards permitted only in the CG and BI districts. 'Illumination Indirect' and 'Illumination Internal' are both marked 'A,' allowed without a separate permit, in all nine district columns, so a billboard owner in CG or BI can light the sign face internally or wash it with an external light source without a separate application. 'Illumination, Exposed bulbs or neon' is marked 'N' across every single column, RS through INS, meaning no sign anywhere in the unincorporated county, billboard or otherwise, may be lit with bare bulbs or neon tubing.

7-5, Sign Illumination, layers on a performance standard that applies regardless of which illumination type is used: an illuminated sign shall not directly shine on abutting properties, and no sign may use illumination simulating traffic control devices or emergency vehicles, nor may it use lights which are intermittently switched on and off, changed in intensity or color, or otherwise displayed to create the illusion of flashing or movement. For a billboard along I-26 or I-95, that means indirect floodlighting or internal panel lighting is the only lawful way to illuminate the face at night, glare cannot spill onto adjoining land, and the sign cannot pulse, dim, brighten or otherwise simulate motion, even if the sign's message itself is static.