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

Under Code § 22-76, a junk vehicle is any motor vehicle that is inoperative without a current license plate or valid safety inspection certificate and is wrecked, dismantled or discarded, or any vehicle that simply remains inoperable for a continuous period of more than 45 days. Section 22-77 declares such a vehicle a public nuisance whenever it sits visible and easily accessible from a public place or right-of-way, citing safety hazards, reduced property values, fire risk, vermin breeding and blight to the county's economic welfare as the grounds.

Section 22-78 carves out exceptions for vehicles on a licensed new or used car lot, a commercial garage, wrecker or storage facility, or stored inside a three-or-more-sided garage with a roof, and it allows a property owner to keep up to two vehicles undergoing maintenance, repair or restoration without triggering the division. Section 22-79 separately requires any junkyard operator or dealer in junk vehicles or parts to enclose the open storage yard with a secure, solid fence at least six feet high, built and maintained to screen the operation from public view.

The junkyard definition itself, in § 22-76, also catches any parcel where more than two abandoned junk vehicles are stored outside an enclosed structure for a cumulative 15 days or more, even without a formal resale operation.