Georgetown County, SC Outdoor Lighting: Dark Sky Rules (2026)

Sec. 5.5-30 states the article exists to protect loggerhead sea turtles nesting on Georgetown County beaches from artificial light. Sec. 5.5-32 makes it county policy that no artificial light illuminate any beach area and applies to any construction, including single-family and multifamily dwellings, commercial structures, parking lots and dune walkovers, if the lighting can be seen from the beach. Floodlights are prohibited outright; wall-mounted fixtures must be hooded. Pole lighting must be shielded so light is contained within a three-to-seventy-three degree arc on the seaward side.

Parking lots and dune crosswalks must use low-profile luminaires (light sources no higher than forty-eight inches, hooded and aimed downward). Balcony lights need hoods, and construction security lights cannot exceed fifteen feet and cannot spread past the property line onto the beach. Sec. 5.5-33 exempts structures that already held a building permit before the June 13, 1989 effective date. Sec. 5.5-34 gives existing development twelve months to comply, including a seasonal rule: decorative and recreational lighting and dune-crosswalk lights visible from the beach must be shielded or turned off after 10:00 p.m. from May 1 through October 31. Security lighting may run all night if low-profile and screened. Sec. 5.5-35 applies parallel shielding rules to publicly owned street lights and park/beach-access lighting.