Aiken County, SC Sign Regulations: Holiday Displays (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Aiken County Code § 24-2.12.12(14)
- Exempt displays
- Holiday lighting and outline neon tubing
- Height limit
- Must not extend above the roofline
- Applies to
- HCO District nonresidential/multifamily development
- Standard curfew
- 50% dimming 30 min after close, by 11 p.m.
- General penalty
- Up to $200 fine or 30 days jail
Summary
Within Aiken County's Highway Corridor Overlay District, holiday lighting and outline neon are carved out of the county's strict commercial outdoor lighting standards entirely, provided the display stays at or below the roofline. Every other fixture, footcandle and shutoff rule in Sec. 24-2.12.12 keeps applying to year-round site lighting.
(14) Exemptions. Holiday lighting displays and neon lighting used to outline a structure are exempt though such lighting may not extend above the roofline.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 119).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 12 regulates outdoor lighting for nonresidential and multifamily projects inside the county's Highway Corridor Overlay District, the commercial strip along roads such as Whiskey Road, Atomic Road and Edgefield Road (Sec. 3). , unless the business runs 24 hours. Paragraph (14) then exempts two specific categories from all of that: holiday lighting displays and neon tubing used to outline a structure. Both are free of the wattage, footcandle, underground-wiring and curfew-dimming rules that otherwise govern site lighting, with a single condition attached: the lighting cannot extend above the building's roofline.
5 footcandle at a residential property line. The planning and development director administers the section and can require a lighting plan or fixture changes to bring a display into compliance.
Violations & Fines
Because the holiday-lighting carve-out is an exemption rather than a standalone permit, the planning and development director enforces it by checking display height against the roofline during routine site inspections; a display that climbs above the roofline is treated as a standard lighting violation under Sec. 24-2.12.12. Chapter 24 has no lighting-specific fine, so the county's general penalty in Sec. 1-8 applies: up to $200 and 30 days in jail, with each day counted separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business in Aiken County put up holiday lights without a lighting permit?
Is there a limit on how high holiday lights can go?
Does the holiday lighting exemption apply to residential subdivisions?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aiken County
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