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

Beaufort County's Community Development Code addresses off-premises signage, the category covering freeway-facing billboards, in Section 5.6.50 of the Off-Premises Sign Standards division. Subsection A states plainly: "New off-premises signs/commercial billboard signs are prohibited. Digital displays are prohibited on all off-premises signs/commercial billboard signs." That is a total ban on new billboard construction anywhere in the unincorporated county, whether facing US 21, US 17, US 278 or any other corridor, and it extends to digital or electronic message boards on existing structures too.

Signs erected before the ban are not grandfathered into normal upkeep. Subsection B's Maintenance Standards require every existing off-premises sign to stay structurally safe, with a face "maintained free of peeling, chipping, rusting, wearing and fading so as to be fully legible at all times." Owners may only repaint or refinish the sign face to match its originally permitted appearance; hurricane-safety frames are allowed, but the sign foundation cannot be touched. Subsection B.3 bars "extension, enlargement, replacement, rebuilding, adding lights to an un-illuminated sign, changing the height of the sign above ground, or re-erection of the sign." Any such change is treated as abandonment, voiding the permit and forcing removal at the owner's expense.

If the Code Enforcement Department finds a billboard dilapidated or structurally unsound, the owner gets 20 days to remove it, with an appeal route to the Zoning Board of Appeals; losing that appeal restarts the 20-day clock. Storm damage exceeding half of replacement cost forces the sign into full compliance with current standards under Subsection B.4.c, effectively ending its use as a billboard.