Horry County, SC Tree Protection: Parkway Planting (2026)
Key Facts
- Streetscape buffer width
- 100 feet along major corridors
- Canopy trees required
- 8 per 100 linear feet
- Understory trees required
- 20 per 100 linear feet
- Shrubs required
- 50 per 100 linear feet
- Evergreen share
- 75% of each planting type
- Clear-cut penalty
- 36-month development plan freeze
Summary
Non-residential, multifamily, townhome and in-common residential projects fronting any road on Horry County's Table 1 corridor list, from US 17 to Carolina Bays Parkway, must plant a streetscape tree buffer under Zoning Ordinance §§ 501.B and 504.C, on top of the county's ordinary landscape and buffer rules.
B.Non-residential, multifamily, quadraplex, townhome, and in-common residential projects that are located along Table 1: Applicable Roads must meet the Tree Preservation Standards set in § 505 in addition to the required landscape plantings set by § 504. ... Type C: External Road Streetscape Requirement for Major Residential Development, Multi-Family, Quadruplex, Townhome, & In-common Residential Project: ... A minimum 100 feet in width buffer with at least a 6 feet in height berm with 3:1 slope, and consist of the following breakdown: 8 20 50
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 88).
Full Breakdown
B. The operative planting rule is the Type C External Road Streetscape buffer in Table 4: a 100-foot-wide planted buffer built around a berm at least 6 feet high with a 3:1 side slope, holding at minimum 8 canopy trees, 20 understory trees and 50 shrubs, perennials or ornamental grasses per 100 linear feet of frontage, with 75 percent of each planting type required to be evergreen. A developer may substitute a 100-foot-wide strip of undisturbed, naturally forested land for the planted option if a tree survey shows the existing vegetation already meets those same planting counts.
Non-residential projects along the same corridors get a lighter version: a 10-foot Type C streetscape buffer with at least 3 canopy trees, 3 understory trees and 20 shrubs per 100 feet, only 25 percent of which must be evergreen. Table 4's footnotes let qualifying infill parcels east of Highway 17 Business cut the required buffer width and planting counts by up to 60 percent, or by 50 percent for older, smaller in-fill lots, so the corridor requirement scales down for redevelopment of already-built areas.
Violations & Fines
Clearing a required streetscape buffer, or building along a Table 1 road without the corridor tree plan, violates Article V and carries the same misdemeanor exposure as any zoning violation: up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail per § 114, with each day of noncompliance a separate offense. Clear-cutting a parcel that fails to meet Table 4's buffer standards also triggers an automatic 36-month freeze on accepting any development plan for that parcel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which roads trigger Horry County's street-tree buffer requirement?
How wide does the street-tree buffer have to be?
What happens if I clear-cut a lot along one of these roads?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Horry County
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