Pickens County, SC Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)

Pickens County Code § 10-73 defines a junked or abandoned vehicle as any vehicle without a current and valid license plate that has not been moved or subjected to physical repair or restoration for more than 90 days; an inoperable, wrecked vehicle even with a current plate also counts as junked. Separately, § 10-76 sets standards for residential properties and businesses that do not rise to the level of a commercial junkyard: it is unlawful for any person, corporation or business entity to keep junk or abandoned vehicles on its premises unless each vehicle is covered with a proper car cover, with tarps specifically disallowed, or stored inside a totally enclosed building, and unless all junk is kept out of view of roads and adjacent properties.

These residential-use standards had to be met within 180 days of the article's effective date. The section carries two exceptions: it does not apply to a business storing five or fewer vehicles subject to a valid garageman's lien under state law, and it does not apply to farm equipment on property carrying an agriculture tax exemption. Enforcement of the junkyard article falls to the county's code enforcement officer, employed by the building codes department, working with the sheriff's office under § 10-77, and a property owner can appeal a code enforcement officer's decision to the county board of zoning appeals.