Oconee County, SC Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Oconee County has no freestanding blight ordinance; it reaches substandard and dangerous buildings in the unincorporated area by adopting the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code by reference at Oconee County Code § 6-51, along with the administrative sections in the code's Chapter 1. 1 substitutes "Code Enforcement" as the enforcing office, so citations for deteriorated, unsafe, or unmaintained structures run through the county's Code Enforcement staff rather than a separate blight board. When a determination is appealed, Sections 107 and 108 of the adopted code are amended to route the appeal to Sec.

6-85 of this Code, the county's seven-member Board of Building Code Appeals, rather than to a state or model-code board. Enforcement of any building code or regulation adopted under Chapter 6, including the Property Maintenance Code, follows Sec. 00, and the property owner must be given seven calendar days to correct the violation or submit a correction plan before a second citation issues. 00, and each day the violation continues is treated as a separate offense. The building official, another county authority, or a damaged party may also seek injunctive relief or mandamus in an imminent-danger situation.

This structure means a single Property Maintenance Code case, from initial notice to escalating fines, is handled entirely inside the Codes Department and the Sec. 6-85 appeals board rather than through the courts, unless the county or an aggrieved party seeks injunctive relief.