Greenville County has no county-wide dark-sky ordinance for existing homes, but in its Environmentally Sensitive (ESD-PM) district, lighting must use downward or shielded fixtures and create no light spillage above the tree canopy to minimize sky glow and light pollution.
Greenville County does not impose a general dark-sky lighting standard on existing single-family homes. Its quantitative lighting controls apply to new development, and the strongest dark-sky language is in Section 8:5.10 for the Environmentally Sensitive District (ESD-PM). There, lighting must use downward and/or inward-facing fixtures and/or light shields, and fixtures must be aimed, located, designed, fitted, and maintained to direct light downward and create no light spillage above the tree canopy to minimize sky glow, glare, and light pollution. Commercial and multifamily site plans elsewhere must use cutoff fixtures that minimize obtrusive light. For a routine porch or yard light on a house, the county sets no dark-sky limit; your city may.
Lighting on a regulated development that fails the ESD-PM or site-plan cutoff standards can hold up site-plan or certificate-of-occupancy approval and is enforced through Greenville County land-development review.
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See how Greenville County's dark sky rules rules stack up against other locations.
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