Darlington County, SC Sign Regulations: Freeway-Facing Signs (2026)

Appendix A, Section 15.3 of the Development Standards Ordinance governs where outdoor advertising signs, meaning off-premises billboards rather than on-site business signs, can be sited in unincorporated Darlington County. No sign may stand within 1,200 feet of another outdoor advertising sign, counting signs on the opposite side of the road, and on an interstate the sign is only allowed on the side of the highway where the qualified business it identifies actually operates. Every sign must sit back at least 10 feet from front and side property lines, must be within 600 feet of a qualified business's permanent building, and along an interstate must also be within 600 feet of the highway right-of-way.

A qualified business under Section 15.1 has operated for at least 12 months, keeps at least one employee on-site 36 hours a week for four days and 46 weeks a year, and has electricity, phone, running water, an indoor restroom and permanent flooring. Section 15.4 caps the sign face at 378 square feet countywide, but a face along an interstate may reach 672 square feet, with extensions or cutouts adding up to another 150 square feet. Section 15.5 sets a 40-foot height limit measured from average roadway grade, rising to 100 feet for interstate-facing signs.

Applicants file with the planning department before pulling a building permit, and any sign over 32 square feet must use a monopole support meeting wind-load and foundation standards under Section 15.6. Signs must also carry a South Carolina Department of Transportation permit before erection along an interstate, U.S. route or state route. Violating any of these siting, size or permitting rules is a misdemeanor under Section 7.8.2, prosecuted per offense with each day of continued violation a separate offense.