York County, SC Sign Regulations: Digital Billboards (2026)
Key Facts
- New billboards
- Prohibited countywide, digital or static
- Existing billboards
- Nonconforming; no enlarging or relocating
- Rebuild threshold
- Barred if damage exceeds 50% appraised value
- Repair window
- 90 days or must remove sign
- Illegal billboard notice
- 30 days after certified-mail notice
- Max fine
- $500 per day per § 155.9999
Summary
York County's sign ordinance flatly bars anyone from building a new billboard, digital or static, anywhere in the unincorporated county. Sign Code § 155.938(A) says a person may not construct, install, operate, display, or use a new billboard; only billboards standing when the rule took effect may keep running, and only as tightly restricted nonconforming structures.
(A) In general. A person may not construct, install, operate, display, or use a new billboard. Sign users may maintain existing billboards in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(B) Nonconforming billboards. Sign users may maintain billboards existing at the time of adoption of this part as a nonconforming use, provided that:
(1) A person may not enlarge, extend, relocate, structurally reconstruct, or alter a nonconforming billboard or sign supporting structure. However, a sign user may change or replace the copy on the sign face if the change does not increase the face area, height, projection, or sign features;
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-49: Supplement contains: Local legislation current through Ord. 3925, passed 6-16-25).
Full Breakdown
1301, as a permanent, off-premises sign or sign structure mounted on poles, an A-frame, or a multi-mast catwalk, so the ban covers digital billboard faces the same as static ones; nothing in the sign chapter carves out an exception for electronic message technology. 938(B)(1) forbids enlarging, extending, relocating, or structurally reconstructing them, though a sign user may swap the copy on the face if the change does not increase area, height, projection, or features. 938(B)(4). The Building Official may order repairs to an unsafe billboard under Chapter 150's adopted International Existing Building Code.
938(D)(1), giving 30 days to correct the violation or remove the sign; if the owner misses that deadline, the county may remove the billboard itself and bill the cost to the owner. 934(D)(3).
Violations & Fines
A new billboard, digital or static, is a misdemeanor zoning violation under § 155.9999(A), prosecutable by the County Attorney or Zoning Administrator and punishable by a fine of up to $500 per day for as long as the sign stays up. If an owner ignores the Zoning Administrator's 30-day certified-mail notice under § 155.938(D)(1), the county removes the illegal billboard itself and recovers the removal cost from the owner through any collection method state law allows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put up a new digital billboard in unincorporated York County?
What happens to a billboard that already existed before the ban?
Are electronic message signs allowed anywhere in the county?
What happens if someone builds an illegal billboard anyway?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in York County
Compare York County to another location·View the South Carolina sign regulations overview
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