Rock Hill, SC

Rock Hill bans open burning citywide by default. City Code Sec. 16-7 states flatly that "all open burning is prohibited within the Rock Hill city limits," and carves out only three…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires every registered residential rental unit to have a working smoke alarm in each area where one is required, and the alarm cannot be past its…

Rock Hill lets residents light a recreational fire, such as a campfire or backyard fire pit, without a permit, as long as it does not create a smoke violation or other nuisance. That…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance caps temporary fireworks sales at two sales events per calendar year per location, with each sale running no more than 14 days, under Section 5.4.5(C). The…

South Carolina regulates LP-gas (propane) storage, transport, and installation under Title 40 Chapter 82. The LP-Gas Board licenses dealers and enforces NFPA 58 standards uniformly…

The South Carolina Forestry Commission has statewide authority to declare wildfire emergencies, issue burn bans, and suppress forest fires. Title 48 designates protected forestland and…

Rock Hill, South Carolina allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot under Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(A), on top of the main house. ADUs must be permanent construction…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires the property owner to actually live on site when an accessory dwelling unit is built. Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(A)(1) ties the owner to the…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bars accessory dwelling units from being rented as short-term stays. Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(A)(7) sets a 30-day minimum tenancy and caps an ADU at 11…

Detached sheds, garages and other accessory structures in Rock Hill must sit behind the front plane of the house: 5 feet from every property line if under one story, 10 feet if taller…

Converting a garage to living space in York County is a change of occupancy needing a building permit under the 2021 SC Residential Code. Adding a bathroom or bedroom on septic…

A tiny house on wheels can't serve as an accessory dwelling unit anywhere in unincorporated York County under § 155.631(D), but a permanently sited, code-built tiny house can qualify…

Rock Hill's noise code specifically flags yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing on public streets between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. as a prohibited disturbing noise under…

Rock Hill bans operating any radio, phonograph, loudspeaker or similar sound-amplifying device loud enough to unreasonably disturb people nearby or become a public nuisance, under City…

Rock Hill bars loud building-operation equipment, piledrivers, pneumatic hammers, derricks and similar apparatus, between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in mostly residential blocks unless…

Rock Hill caps noise at 60 decibels at the property line in any residentially zoned area, or within 300 feet of a residence in any zone, under City Code § 20-162(18). The level is…

Rock Hill exempts lawn mowers, leaf blowers, saws, drills, sanders, routers and grinders from its general 60-decibel residential noise cap only between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., and…

Rock Hill's noise ordinance caps most activity in or near residential areas at 60 decibels, but the code carves out aircraft explicitly: sound produced by aircraft in flight or…

Rock Hill treats a dog or other animal whose frequent or long-continued noise disturbs neighbors as a prohibited noise under City Code Section 20-162(1), enforceable under the general…

Rock Hill bans loud, excessive or unusual noise from operating a motor vehicle on any city street, and separately requires every vehicle to run a working muffler with no cutout or…

Rock Hill designates the entire city a bird sanctuary under City Code Section 6-3, making it unlawful to kill, injure or molest any wild bird or disturb its eggs, nest or breeding…

Rock Hill treats cats the same as dogs under Chapter 6 of the City Code: every cat must wear a valid rabies vaccination tag, stay under an owner's restraint at all times, and an…

Rock Hill requires every dog owner to keep the animal under restraint at all times under City Code Section 6-36, with detailed tether, collar and trolley-system standards, and…

Rock Hill requires any outdoor female dog or cat over four months old to be spayed once she is kept where stray dogs or cats have unrestricted breeding access, under City Code Section…

Rock Hill regulates individual dogs found to be dangerous based on their conduct under City Code Section 6-37, and Section 6-31 expressly states an animal 'is not a dangerous animal…

Rock Hill requires every dog or cat reclaimed from the county animal shelter to receive a microchip implant under City Code Section 6-46(c), with the microchip cost added to the…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance lets property owners keep beehives as an accessory use, but bans placing them in a front yard or a street-facing side yard closer than 50 feet to the…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance classifies a veterinary clinic without boarding as an Animal Care (Limited) use. The Zoning Ordinance caps such clinics at 20 small animals on-site at…

Rock Hill allows up to 10 hens per property as an accessory use under the Zoning Ordinance, with a required predator-proof coop and run, but roosters are essentially off-limits: one is…

A pet grooming, boarding, or training business in unincorporated York County is permitted by right if it keeps animals indoors, but needs a conditional use approval, acoustic fencing…

South Carolina bars selling wild carnivores as pets. S.C. Code Section 47-5-50 provides no carnivores that normally are not domesticated may be sold as pets in the State, reaching…

South Carolina has no standalone hoarding statute; hoarding is prosecuted under the general ill-treatment law, Section 47-1-40, which criminalizes depriving an animal of necessary…

South Carolina bans intentionally feeding black bears statewide under S.C. Code § 50-11-440 and restricts deer baiting by region under Department of Natural Resources rules. These…

Rock Hill, South Carolina caps every short-term rental at two guests per bedroom plus two additional guests, a formula written directly into the zoning standards that govern every…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires a short-term rental permit before any unit is advertised or operated. Permits follow the city's conditional-use process for the property's zoning…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bars a short-term rental from renting separate rooms to different guest groups at the same time unless the host is on the property during the rental and every…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bars every permitted short-term rental from being marketed or used as an event venue or party house, naming open-invite social-media parties, weddings…

Rock Hill charges a separate fee to operate a short-term rental rather than folding it into the accommodations tax. The city's fee schedule sets a $300.00 short-term rental permit…

York County treats short-term rental stays of 30 days or more as long-term occupancy, not short-term rental use, under Zoning Ordinance § 155.551(D). A homeowner who rents for a…

York County only permits short-term rentals in a dwelling that serves as the owner's primary residence, under § 155.552(B)(2). Applicants must submit written documentation from the…

York County caps short-term rentals in the unincorporated county at 120 days of overnight occupancy per calendar year under Zoning Ordinance § 155.551(B). The limit applies to any…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bans letting weeds, grass or similar vegetation reach 12 inches or more on any improved residential or commercial lot under City Code § 10-292(a), calling…

Once Rock Hill, South Carolina declares a Stage 2 drought, sprinklers and irrigation systems are cut to two days a week on an odd-even address schedule, and only between 9:00 p.m. and…

Rock Hill, South Carolina does not restrict harvesting rainwater. The city's stormwater ordinance expressly lists harvested rainwater among the discharges exempt from its…

Rock Hill requires every property owner or occupant to keep the trees, shrubs, and other woody plants on their land pruned and safe. City Code § 28-91 makes maintenance the owner's…

Rock Hill requires a permit before anyone removes, alters, or treats a 'public tree,' meaning a street tree or a tree on city-owned property. City Code § 28-62 makes it unlawful for…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance treats composting as an accessory use tied to community, private, or institutional gardens. Under § 5.3.5.4(C)(3), plastic compost bins and loose compost…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires a building permit to construct a residential swimming pool under City Code § 10-71, with one narrow carve-out: § 10-74(9) exempts only prefabricated…

York County enforces a residential pool barrier through the International Residential Code, Appendix G, adopted statewide by the South Carolina Building Codes Council. The barrier must…

Rock Hill bans parking on sidewalks, in front of driveways, within intersections or crosswalks, within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, and anywhere else signs prohibit it under § 18-172. A…

Rock Hill bans parking RVs, boats, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, and any vehicle with more than four wheels on public streets between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Pickup trucks are…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance does not ban a junked car in a driveway outright, but if a resident is restoring a vehicle at home, any inoperable, unregistered or unlicensed vehicle…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance requires single-family attached and multi-family developments to keep box trucks, tractor-trailer cabs and beds, and other specialized commercial vehicles…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance allows residents to park boats, campers, RVs, and other recreational equipment in every zoning district except downtown (DTWN). A resident may keep…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance requires off-street loading berths sized at least 10 feet wide by 50 feet long with 15 feet of overhead clearance for most commercial, industrial and…

Rock Hill requires front-yard and corner-yard vehicle parking on single-family lots to sit in a garage, carport, driveway or parking pad, surfaced with asphalt, concrete, brick, pavers…

York County's zoning code lets any off-street parking lot in the unincorporated county add electric vehicle charging stations, and those chargers count toward the lot's required or…

South Carolina caps no towing charge. There is no statutory or regulatory ceiling on a hookup fee, mileage rate or daily storage rate, and no statewide drop fee for returning to your…

Rock Hill treats an in-home day care as a residential accessory use under the city's Zoning Ordinance, not a full daycare center. Operators must get an in-home day care permit, provide…

Rock Hill, South Carolina lets small home-based businesses operate as an accessory use in any home, but Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(B) caps the space at 30% of the house's heated floor…

Rock Hill, South Carolina limits how many people can be at a home-based business at once. Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(B)(6)-(7) allows only one customer on site at a time for any…

Rock Hill, South Carolina allows a home-based business to post one small identifying sign without a permit. Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(B)(11) caps it at a one-square-foot wall sign…

South Carolina's home-based food production law, S.C. Code § 44-1-143, governs cottage food sales in unincorporated York County: sanitation and labeling rules, an income exemption…

South Carolina has never created a microenterprise home kitchen permit, so there is no route for selling meals cooked to order out of your own house to the general public. Regulation…

Rock Hill exempts short retaining walls from its building permit requirement, but the threshold is narrow. City Code § 10-74 excuses only walls four feet or less, measured from the…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance sets residential fence heights by where the fence sits on the lot. In front of a house, a fence running parallel to the residence is capped at 4 feet and…

Rock Hill does not require a building permit for a residential fence of 7 feet or less. Under City Code § 10-74, fences taller than seven feet fall outside that exemption and need a…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance bans barbed wire, above-ground electrified fencing, metal-slat fencing, and fences built from debris, junk, rolled plastic, sheet metal or plywood on any…

South Carolina is a closed-range, fence-in state. Under S.C. Code Section 47-7-110 the livestock owner, not the adjoining neighbor, must confine animals; letting them run at large is a…

Rock Hill requires pedestrians crossing outside a marked or unmarked intersection crosswalk to yield to all vehicles on the roadway, and bars crossing anywhere but a marked crosswalk…

Rock Hill bans smoking, defined to include cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookahs and e-cigarettes, in every public park and playground the city owns, leases or operates, under City Code §…

Rock Hill bans open alcohol containers and public drinking on city streets, sidewalks, parking areas and other public property under City Code Section 5-1, unless the location holds a…

Rock Hill bans loitering or loafing around any college, school, hospital, orphanage or church inside city limits, and separately makes it unlawful to loiter about the city jail or…

Rock Hill's Code of Ordinances outlaws aggressive solicitation on any public right-of-way, sidewalk, or publicly owned property under Section 26-16(j). The ordinance defines…

Skateboards, in-line skates, roller skates, and similar coaster-type devices are banned from Rock Hill's downtown business area under § 18-74. The restriction covers the neighborhood…

Rock Hill City Code § 8-8 requires cyclists to ride in a marked bicycle lane when one is provided next to the roadway, and bars motorists from blocking that lane to oncoming bicycle…

Rock Hill bans renting electric scooters and electric-assist bicycles for use on any public street, sidewalk, trail, or right-of-way, and it bans party bicycles the same way. City Code…

To drive a golf cart on a South Carolina public highway the owner must obtain a permit decal and registration certificate from the Department of Motor Vehicles, showing proof of…

Rock Hill bars unsupervised juveniles under 17 from public streets, parks and other public places during set curfew hours: 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight…

Rock Hill city parks close from dusk to dawn unless posted or programmed hours say otherwise, and it's unlawful to enter or remain in a park while it's closed under City Code § 21-1…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires a carbon monoxide alarm in every registered residential rental unit that has a fuel-burning appliance or an attached garage. City Code § 10-602 lists…

Rock Hill, South Carolina requires a permit from the building official before anyone builds, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes or changes the occupancy of a building, or installs an…

Rock Hill, South Carolina inspects permitted construction in stages set out in City Code § 10-133, from footing and foundation through framing and final energy-efficiency checks, and §…

Rock Hill, South Carolina enforces the International Plumbing Code as amended by the state, adopted locally as 'the plumbing code' under City Code § 10-194. Any plumbing installation…

Rock Hill, South Carolina enforces the National Electrical Code as amended by the state, adopted locally as 'the electrical code' under City Code § 10-198. Electrical installation…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance sets site-safety design standards for child day care centers and preschools: any outdoor play area needs a fence at least 4 feet tall that fully encloses…

Rock Hill, South Carolina runs an audit-based inspection program for registered residential rental units under City Code § 10-607. A unit enters the inspection queue when a tenant…

A tenant or anyone else can trigger an out-of-cycle inspection of a Rock Hill rental unit by filing a complaint of violation with the Department of Neighborhood Services. City Code §…

Every business operating in Rock Hill, South Carolina pays an annual license tax computed by classification, not a flat rate. City Code § 11-51 ties each business to a rate class…

Rock Hill, South Carolina limits a residence to two garage sale permits per calendar year under City Code § 11-89, and each sale is capped at three consecutive days or two consecutive…

Rock Hill, South Carolina's amendments to the adopted International Property Maintenance Code fix the heating season an owner must maintain: City Code § 10-202(a)(8) writes 'October 31…

Every residential rental unit in Rock Hill needs a city registration before it can be occupied. City Code § 10-606 requires the responsible person to register with the department of…

South Carolina has no just-cause eviction rule, and York County cannot add one. Under S.C. Code §27-40-710 a landlord ends a tenancy for unpaid rent with a five-day written notice…

Rent control is illegal across York County. South Carolina Code §27-39-60 bars every county and municipal corporation from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing any ordinance that…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-710, a landlord may terminate for nonpayment if rent stays unpaid for 5 days after it is due and the landlord gives written notice. For other material lease…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-530, a landlord must give the tenant at least 24 hours' notice before entering the unit and may enter only at reasonable times, except in an emergency. The…

Under S.C. Code § 27-40-770, either the landlord or tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by giving the other at least 30 days' written notice before the termination date. A…

South Carolina sets no statutory cap on a residential security deposit. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-410, when a tenancy ends the landlord must refund the deposit, less any accrued…

Under S.C. Code § 15-67-210, occupation of land is presumed subordinate to the legal owner unless the property has been "held and possessed adversely" for 10 years before an action is…

In Rock Hill, South Carolina, city staff will not sign off on building plans until a homeowners association that has put the city on notice of its architectural-approval requirement…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance states plainly that the City is not responsible for monitoring or enforcing private covenants and restrictions, including HOA CC&Rs, even where a stricter…

Before a new single-family subdivision in Rock Hill, South Carolina can record its final plat, the developer must submit the HOA's proposed bylaws and restrictive covenants to Planning…

York County requires every property owners association's founding declaration to make each lot liable for its pro rata share of the annual operating budget and capital improvement…

South Carolina's Homeowners Association Act imposes only one meeting rule and one records rule. Section 27-30-140 requires at least forty-eight hours' notice before the meeting at…

South Carolina protects exactly one flag. S.C. Code Section 27-1-60 overrides any restrictive covenant, declaration, rule, contract, lease or homeowners' association document that…

South Carolina sets no dollar cap on homeowners association fines and requires no notice, hearing or cure period before one is imposed. The Homeowners Association Act, S.C. Code…

South Carolina gives condominium associations a statutory assessment lien but denies it any priority over a mortgage. S.C. Code Section 27-31-210(a) makes unpaid common-expense…

South Carolina places no statutory limit on how far a homeowners association may restrict leasing. There is no grandfathering clause for owners already renting, no cap percentage, no…

Mobile food vendors in Rock Hill, South Carolina, may not simply park and sell anywhere. The Zoning Ordinance limits stationary food trucks and carts to Planning Commission-approved…

Selling food or goods from a cart or stand on Rock Hill's public sidewalks and rights-of-way requires a revocable street vendor permit from city council under City Code Article IX…

In unincorporated York County a mobile vending unit, including a food truck, may set up on any privately owned lot in any zoning district under County Code Section 155.736. It cannot…

Rock Hill, South Carolina limits garage sale signs to two on-property signs of four square feet each, plus two directional signs of two square feet each with the property owner's…

Window signs in Rock Hill's commercial districts are exempt from a sign permit but capped at whichever is smaller: the area allowed for a permitted wall sign on that facade, or 50% of…

Rock Hill exempts political, ideological, religious, social or governmental message signs from sign permitting entirely, as long as the sign is unrelated to a business's goods or…

Rock Hill allows electronic message boards only on freestanding signs in non-residential districts, capped at 50% of the sign face for typical businesses or 75% for event venues, with…

Rock Hill allows larger freestanding signs facing Interstate 77 than on ordinary roads, up to 164 square feet and 24 feet tall, but only for parcels with at least 200 feet of…

Pawnbrokers in Rock Hill, South Carolina must post a licensed-shop sign at the shop entrance under City Code § 11-141 and cannot lend more than $2,000.00 on a single pawn transaction…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bars wrecker operators from chasing accident scenes uninvited and requires anyone on the police department's tow rotation to hold a business license, carry…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance classifies massage therapy and day spas as a Personal Services (Type A) use. Section 4.3.3.3.14(F) limits their hours to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. inside the…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance places tattoo parlors and body piercing establishments in the Personal Services (Type B) category. Section 4.3.3.3.14(G) requires them to sit at least…

Rock Hill, South Carolina flatly bans automotive service businesses from operating out of a home. Zoning Ordinance § 5.3.5.2(B)(2) lists automotive service uses among the home-based…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance keeps adult entertainment businesses at least 1,000 feet from residential uses, undeveloped residential zoning, religious institutions, day cares, schools…

South Carolina regulates vape and e-cigarette retail through its tobacco and alternative-nicotine laws in Title 16, Chapter 17. Retailers may not sell to anyone under 21 under federal…

Furniture, white goods and other bulky household items go to the Rock Hill curb only after scheduling with public works, set out no earlier than noon the day before pickup and no later…

Rock Hill households on city mobile-container trash service get curbside recycling at no extra charge, and businesses that skip city trash pickup can still buy recycling service…

Rock Hill households must keep mobile garbage carts off sidewalks, driveways, streets and neighboring property, and can only roll them to the curb between noon the day before pickup…

Every household inside Rock Hill's collection service area must have a city-approved mobile container and pay for weekly solid waste service under City Code § 17-61. Garbage goes out…

Trash has to fit below the rim of your Rock Hill garbage cart with the lid closed, and every box or carton must be flattened before it goes in. Overflow left outside the cart still…

Rock Hill businesses using bulk containers must build an approved pad or enclosure on their own property and keep the dumpster off sidewalks, curbs, gutters and streets. The city can…

Rock Hill runs curbside leaf-truck pickup only in November, December and January, plus February by appointment; the rest of the year loose leaves go bagless into the yard-waste cart…

Rock Hill's solid waste code bans dumping anywhere except an approved solid waste facility, and lets the public works director declare accumulated garbage a nuisance. Owners who miss a…

Every Rock Hill household already on city mobile-container trash service also gets curbside recycling at no extra charge under City Code Sec. 17-71, though single-family homes are not…

Rock Hill bans tossing a used hypodermic needle or syringe straight into the trash. City Code § 17-73(1) requires you to break, disassemble or otherwise disable the device first, then…

Rock Hill's rental inspection checklist requires every registered residential rental unit to be kept free of insect and rodent infestation. City Code § 10-602 makes 'pest elimination'…

Rock Hill's noise ordinance names blowers, power fans and internal combustion engines, the equipment category covering portable and standby generators, as a specifically prohibited…

Rock Hill bars any sound-amplifying device, including a bar or club's speakers, from operating 'so loud as to unreasonably disturb persons in the vicinity' under § 20-162(12), and caps…

Rock Hill's 60-decibel residential noise cap does not apply to HVAC equipment: § 20-162(18)(i) exempts 'sound which was generated by an HVAC unit' from the decibel standard entirely. A…

Unincorporated York County bans loud or excessive noise from loading and unloading delivery vehicles, including opening and breaking down boxes, crates, and containers, under its…

Unincorporated York County makes it a noise violation to play a radio, stereo, or other sound device loud enough to be 'plainly audible' 50 feet from the vehicle or building where it…

Rock Hill's City Code bans congregating on sidewalks to the point of obstruction and bars placing rocks, debris, or other material in city streets and rights-of-way. Both rules sit in…

Rock Hill does not require property owners to independently repair cracked or damaged public sidewalks on their own initiative. Instead, City Code § 26-73 lets the city fund permanent…

Rock Hill requires anyone placing utilities in a city street, sidewalk, or right-of-way to first obtain an encroachment permit from the development services department under City Code…

Anyone who wants to hold a gathering on Rock Hill public property, including a city park, must follow the special events policy the city manager maintains under Section 26-13 of the…

Rock Hill requires a police-issued permit before any parade can march, occupy, or proceed along a city street. Only U.S. Army or Navy forces, South Carolina's military forces, and the…

A restaurant that wants tables, chairs and other furniture placed on the public sidewalk in downtown Rock Hill needs a permit issued under City Code Sec. 11-361, and must follow design…

A street fair or festival expected to draw 500 or more attendees in unincorporated York County needs special exception approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals under County Code…

A block party or other special event that closes a street or uses public right-of-way in unincorporated York County needs a signed York County Venue Agreement before the county will…

York County treats a public-facing filming production as a special event, not just a film shoot, once it's open to the public and expected to draw more than 100 people. That triggers…

Rock Hill's Code of Ordinances makes it unlawful to solicit, whether panhandling or busking, on any private property posted with a 'No Trespassing,' 'No Peddlers,' 'No Solicitors,' or…

Anyone selling goods door-to-door in Rock Hill as a traveling salesman or commercial traveler is legally a peddler under City Code and must hold the city's business license before…

Rock Hill's Code of Ordinances bans camping on any street, sidewalk, park, or playground under Section 26-17(e), along with unauthorized campfires and attaching ropes or cords to…

Rock Hill does not ban sitting or lying on sidewalks outright. City Code § 26-17(c) makes it a violation to remain standing, lying, or sitting on a sidewalk, street, alley, or other…

Rock Hill can repair, close or demolish any structure found unfit due to dilapidation, fire or accident hazards, poor ventilation or sanitation, or other conditions dangerous to…

Rock Hill caps weeds and grass at 12 inches on improved property and 18 inches within 20 feet of developed land or streets on vacant, unimproved lots. City Code § 10-292 also treats…

Rock Hill regulates development inside FEMA-designated special flood hazard areas under the Flood Insurance Study dated May 16, 2017. Anyone building, filling, grading or otherwise…

New construction and substantially improved buildings in a Rock Hill flood hazard area must have their lowest floor at least two feet above the base flood elevation. City Code §…

Rock Hill, South Carolina bans dumping anything but stormwater into its storm drain system and runs a dedicated Stormwater Management Utility to enforce it. Violations can draw a…

Anyone disturbing land from a vacant parcel in Rock Hill, South Carolina needs a grading permit before work starts, and the Planning & Development Director will not issue one until…

South Carolina's Coastal Tidelands and Wetlands Act gives SCDES (formerly DHEC's OCRM) exclusive permit authority over critical areas in the eight coastal counties. State critical-area…

Filming a commercial movie, TV production, or photo shoot that needs a Rock Hill street closed runs through the city's special events policy under § 26-13, administered by the city…

Commercial filming and outdoor film production in unincorporated York County is allowed in every zoning district, but only after a production gets zoning compliance approval as a…

During a Stage 2 or higher drought in Rock Hill, South Carolina, swimming pools may be filled only once per drought period, and water slides and similar water-based recreational…

Rock Hill, South Carolina can shut off water service to a customer who gets a ten-day written notice to repair a leak and does not fix it. The rule sits inside the city's drought…

New and substantially expanded commercial buildings in Rock Hill's Downtown (DTWN) zoning district must follow the city's non-residential design standards: street-facing entrances…

York County's Zoning Code offers, but does not require, a density bonus for affordable housing. Under § 155.060(D), a multi-family developer who makes at least 20% of a project's units…

Anyone building a new residence in Rock Hill's Rural Residential (RR) or Rural Commercial (RC) zoning district after June 22, 2026, within one mile of an existing farm must grant that…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance requires developers of any new residential neighborhood in the Rural (RR) zoning district to grant adjacent farmland owners a right-to-farm easement before…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance protects canopy trees over 32 inches in diameter at breast height (10 inches for understory species) as Heritage Trees on any parcel, public or private…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance requires street trees along new and extended roads in non-residential and multi-family developments, spaced no more than 30 feet apart and set back at…

Rock Hill's Zoning Ordinance fixes every yard setback from a line drawn parallel to the property line at the required distance, not from the property line itself. Corner-lot…

Rock Hill caps single-family detached homes in the SF-3 district at 35 feet, measured from established grade to the roof's highest point on flat roofs, the deck line on mansard or…

Rock Hill defines lot coverage as the share of a lot covered by the house, accessory structures, and all impervious surfaces, pools, driveways, parking, sidewalks, concrete, asphalt or…

Rock Hill lets any resident file a zoning complaint directly with the Planning & Development Director, the official charged under the Zoning Ordinance with enforcing land use, sign…

Rock Hill imposes a three percent local accommodations tax on gross receipts from guest charges at hotels, motels, and other transient accommodations within the city limits. City Code…

Rock Hill requires full cut-off lenses or hoods on any exterior light fixture over 1,000 lumens to keep glare and spillover off the project site, bans downward light leaking below…

Rock Hill caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring land at 0.5 foot-candles measured at the property line where the lit property is residential, and 2.5 foot-candles where it is…

York County bans construction of new billboards outright, and any billboard lighting is exempt from the county's general outdoor lighting design standards, so long as it does not…

Rock Hill only allows ground-mounted solar panels when roof-mounting isn't practicable for efficiency or aesthetic reasons. A ground array must stay as low as possible, never exceed…

South Carolina has no solar access law. Unlike Texas, Florida, or California, no statute stops a homeowners association in York County from restricting or banning rooftop solar. A…

York County caps data center buildings at 80 feet under Zoning Code § 155.058(C), well above the 40-to-60-foot ceiling that applies to most base zoning districts. A data center built…

York County regulates cryptocurrency mining as a data center use. It is confined to specific commercial and industrial zoning districts, and a data center building is capped at 80 feet…

York County keeps an official Historical and Architectural Inventory of significant sites, structures and landmarks, maintained by the York County Culture and Heritage Commission under…

Growing marijuana at home is a crime everywhere in South Carolina, including York County. The state has no medical or recreational program. Cultivating plants is manufacturing and…

There are no cannabis dispensaries to zone in York County. South Carolina has no medical or recreational program, and selling marijuana is a crime under S.C. Code Section 44-53-370. No…

South Carolina state law restricts recreational drone use over correctional facilities and prohibits drone harassment of hunters and anglers. Federal FAA rules govern airspace, but…

South Carolina preempts local governments from setting minimum wage rates above the federal floor under Section 6-1-130 of the state code.

South Carolina has no statewide paid sick-leave or paid family-leave mandate, and no city has adopted one. Section 6-1-130 preempts only local minimum-wage rules, so no statute…

South Carolina allows concealed carry under permit and, since 2024, lawful permitless carry by eligible adults aged 18 or older.

South Carolina law preempts local governments from regulating firearms, ammunition, components, and related accessories beyond what state law expressly authorizes.

South Carolina permits open carry of handguns by eligible adults under the 2021 Open Carry With Training Act and the 2024 permitless carry law.

South Carolina allows lawful adults to carry a loaded handgun in a private vehicle without a permit under the 2024 constitutional carry expansion of Section 23-31-215.

South Carolina outlaws lotteries and raffles unless conducted under one of three authorized programs: the state Education Lottery, Charitable Bingo (S.C. Code § 12-21-3910 et seq.), or…

South Carolina's 1802 gaming law, Section 16-19-40, makes it a crime to play cards or dice for money in a private home, kitchen, or barn -- there is no exception for a friendly poker…

South Carolina bans sports betting outright. S.C. Code § 16-19-130 makes it a crime to bet at a race track, sell pools, run a bookmaking operation, or record wagers on the outcome of…

No section of the South Carolina Code authorizes, defines, or regulates a DUI checkpoint. The words checkpoint and roadblock appear in exactly three sections of the whole code, and…

South Carolina has no statute granting a right to film police and no buffer-zone offense keeping bystanders back from an arrest. What protects you instead is the state wiretap chapter…

South Carolina has never enacted a general stop-and-identify statute. A pedestrian stopped on a Columbia sidewalk or outside a Charleston bar commits no offense by declining to give a…

South Carolina has not legalized cannabis, so it has none of the possession-is-not-probable-cause language other states built their vehicle-search pages on. What it has instead is a…

Federal Tobacco 21 law bars selling tobacco, vapor, or alternative nicotine products to anyone under 21, and this applies in South Carolina. South Carolina's own statute (§ 16-17-500)…

South Carolina has not enacted a statewide ban on flavored tobacco or vapor products, and local flavor bans face preemption challenges under state tobacco law.

South Carolina permits extra lamps only from a closed list with fixed counts and mounting heights: one spot lamp, two fog lamps, one auxiliary passing lamp and one auxiliary driving…

South Carolina never wrote a windshield allowance. Section 56-5-5000 simply forbids driving with any sign, poster or other nontransparent material on the front windshield, sidewings or…

Lane splitting is expressly illegal in South Carolina. S.C. Code Section 56-5-3640(c) states that no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic, or between adjacent…

A tinted licence plate cover is illegal in South Carolina by name. S.C. Code Section 56-3-1240(D) forbids displaying any other licence plate, lighting equipment, tag, sign, monogram…

A radar or laser detector is lawful in a private passenger vehicle in South Carolina. The phrase radar detector appears nowhere in the S.C. Code of Laws, and the word radar itself…

South Carolina has no studded tire season. S.C. Code Section 56-5-5040 makes it permissible to use regular and snow tires with studs on any vehicle for increased safety at any time of…

South Carolina sets one figure and applies it almost everywhere. Under S.C. Code Section 56-5-5015(C) and (D)(2), after-market film on the front side wings, the side windows beside and…