Neither the unincorporated county nor state law limits STRs to a host's primary residence. State law does exempt small owner-occupied lodgings—fewer than six sleeping rooms in the owner's place of abode—from the accommodations tax.
Spartanburg County imposes no primary-residence requirement for short-term rentals because it has no STR zoning. South Carolina likewise does not restrict STRs to owner-occupied homes statewide. However, S.C. Code §12-36-920 gives owner-occupants a break: the accommodations tax does not apply where the lodging has fewer than six sleeping rooms on the same premises used as the owner's abode. Inside the City of Spartanburg the constraint is by zone, not residency—STRs are barred from residential districts and allowed only in commercial, downtown, and mixed-use areas, whether or not the owner lives there.
There is no primary-residence violation as such; misreporting to claim the small owner-occupied tax exemption can trigger SC Department of Revenue tax penalties.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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Spartanburg County and the City of Spartanburg have no ordinance banning backyard composting. It is allowed, but a compost pile that produces offensive odors...
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Spartanburg County and the City of Spartanburg have no ordinance specifically permitting or banning artificial turf for residential lawns. Installation is ge...
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Spartanburg County does not mandate native landscaping. The City of Spartanburg publishes an official approved street-tree list, and no species may be plante...
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Collecting rainwater is legal in Spartanburg County. South Carolina places no statewide restriction on residential rainwater harvesting, and the county sets ...
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Spartanburg County sets no lawn-watering ordinance. Outdoor watering limits come from your utility, Spartanburg Water, which activates address-based schedule...
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Overgrown weeds are a code violation both in the county and the city. Unincorporated county properties are held to 18 inches under the property-maintenance c...
See how Spartanburg County's primary-residence-only rule rules stack up against other locations.
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